Creamy chai porridge

I posted two recipes on my Facebook and Instagram pages last week asking which recipe you would prefer, a rich and decadent – yet healthy – chocolate pudding, or creamy comforting chai porridge. Surprisingly, not only did the chocolate pudding win, but it won by a landslide, with the poor porridge not getting any votes. Am I the only only one out there who loves porridge?

My friends would probably contest that I am a little obsessed with porridge. James likes to tell the story of how he came into my office at work one day to find me sitting in my bosses office talking through how I’d made “The most amazing bowl of oats for breakfast this morning. So the trick is, you need to cook the oats over a low heat…” with my patient and polite boss sitting there nodding his head whilst I passed on all tips necessary for making the perfect bowl of steaming hot oats. If you ask me, the story doesn’t go quite like that, though its probably not too far off.

Porridge has long been my favorite breakfast cereal, and I can still remember the first time I ate “proper” oats. I was staying at my aunties house and it was a cold winters morning. I got out of bed to find her in the kitchen preparing a pot of old-fashioned porridge on the stove top. I watched, intrigued – the only porridge I’d ever had up until that point came from a little sachet that you would pour into bowl with a little milk and zap in the microwave. “Would you like to try some?” She ladled some into a bowl, poured on a little cream, a dab of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar. And it tasted heavenly.

Ever since, porridge has been my breakfast of choice on any given cold winters morning. I have been playing around with how I make it over the years and have no less than a dozen “favorite” versions.  This one I’m sharing with you today is my current favorite version. It combines my beloved oats with my favorite winters drink – milky chai. If like me you are a porridge and a chai fan, you have to try this – the flavours are a match made in oaty heaven.

Creamy chai porridge

Notes: This tastes best with homemade chai, and I use my recipe here to make the chai. If you don’t have time to make your own almond milk, simply steep the spices in water and add in milk of your choice (I actually prefer to use coconut milk for this porridge to make it creamier). Feel free to omit the tea bags here too for a caffeine free version.

1/3 cup oats per person
1 cup chai per person
Pinch salt

Place all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occassionally, on a low heat for 15 minutes. Add a little extra liquid it your porridge gets too dry and gluggy.

Serve topped with chopped nuts and a sprinkle of cinnamon