Oats Rice Porridge (Gotukola Flavored)

Everyone knows oats and rice. Only a few know about Gotukola. That is nothing but a leaf variety popular in Sri Lanka. In tamil it's known as Vallaarai. We use it as a main ingredient in salads and porridge. I had cleaned stalks from a bunch of gotukola. Usually I pressure cook the stalks adding some water and cumin seeds. According to my mom and mom in law, that water gives cooling effect to the body which is what we need in this scorching summer. So I rarely waste gotukola stalks. Moreover, here in Jeddah, seldom do we get that. So for me, it's a treasure:) In this recipe, I use that stalks boiled water to make the porridge. Here's my take on it.

Ingredients:

Cleaned Gotukola Stalks (Of a bunch)

A mix of chopped veggies (carrots, beans, green peas and corn) - 1 Cup

Cooking Oats - 1/3 Cups

Cooked Rice -  1 Cup

Green Gram - 1 Tbsp

Ginger & Garlic Paste - 1/4 Tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1Tbsp

Thick Coconut Milk (Optional) - 1/2 Cup

Water - 5 1/2 Cups

Pepper & Salt - to taste

Method:

1. Pressure cook the stalks with water and cumin seeds for 5 whistles on medium flame.

2. Strain the water and set aside. Discard the stalks and cumin seeds.

3. Add chopped veggies (I used frozen), oats, rice, ginger & garlic paste and green gram to the reserved water.

4. Mix well and pressure cook for 3 whistles on medium flame.

5. Release the pressure and carefully open the lid. Mix gently. Mash if desired.

6. Add pepper and salt to your taste. Serve Warm.

Notes:

*If you like the porridge creamier, add coconut milk and heat once before serving.