Almond Masala Porridge

One minute there’s bush fires, the next its pouring down with rain, its becoming nearly impossible to predict tomorrows forecast. As the rain continues to pour down assisting with the battle against man verses nature in these bushes fires, I’m up at 4.00 am in the morning laying awake in my bed.

I have no idea why I cannot sleep, usually I can sleep like a baby when the rain is singing me a lullaby. So I decided to get up out of bed and make myself some green tea.

Its been a while since we have had rain; so I thought I would take advantage of the cold wet weather, like I’m sure many of the firemen in Australia are doing.
…So I decided to make porridge.

ALMOND MASALA PORRIDGE.

Since I was up so early, my appetite hadn’t kicked in yet, giving me time to prepare my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup of rolled oats

1/2 cup of Unsweetened Almond milk

1/4 cup Almond meal

1/4 cup Almonds

1/4 cup pepitas

Garam Masala for sprinkling

Note: Change the proportions to fit your individual appetites

INSTRUCTIONS

Pre-soak your almonds and seeds! This is very important!

There are so many health benefits to soaking your almonds and seeds.
To name a few:
It assists in helping your body absorb more vitamins and proteins
Helps break down gluten making digestion much easier
Helps neutralise Enzyme Inhibitors
To remove or reduce Phytic Acid

To know more about soaking your nuts and seeds read about it here: http://http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/the-benefits-of-soaking-nuts-and-seeds

I also pre-soaked my oats in the almond milk so they can absorb the milk to make them more soft, easier and quicker to cook.

Once the oats and nuts have finished soaking. Bring the oats and almond milk to a slow boil,  in a small saucepan. Constantly stir to stop the oats from drying out and sticking to the bottom.

Add in the almond meal and fold to combine. At this stage I found that I needed to turn down the heat and add in a little bit more almond milk to keep it moist.

Fold in the almonds and seeds.

Serve in a pretty bowl and sprinkle your Garam Masala all over.

Eat, while watching and listening to the rain hit your windows.