Vegan
Gluten freeBogobe jwa lerotse
Sorghum and melon porridge
Bogobe jwa lerotse: Botswana's sorghum porridge cooked with soft lerotse melon
When the lerotse melons ripen on the lands around Serowe and Mahalapye after the summer rains, households stir their pale flesh into the evening pot of sorghum, and the porridge turns soft, smooth and quietly sweet. Lerotse is a hard-skinned field melon, closer to a mild marrow than a dessert melon, so it melts into the bogobe and gives it a light, fresh taste against the sour, nutty grain. It is eaten as a side with seswaa, beans or morogo, or on its own for supper with a sprinkle of sugar. Outside Botswana, look for lerotse at African grocers; otherwise a firm cooking melon or a winter melon gives a very close result. Chef's tip: the mistake people make is dumping the sorghum in at once, which gives lumps; rain it in slowly while you whisk.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Serves
- 4
- Per serving
- 220 kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ lb lerotse melonor a firm cooking melon such as winter melon; peeled, seeded, cut into 3 cm chunks
- 3 ¼ cups water
- 7 oz fine sorghum meal
- ¾ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar (optional)to taste
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Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Put the 1 ¾ lb lerotse melon in a heavy pot with 500 ml of the 3 ¼ cups water and the ¾ tsp salt. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer over a medium heat until the flesh is soft and falls apart when pressed.
15 minStep 2: Mash the melon in its liquid with a potato masher until mostly smooth.
Step 3: Whisk the 7 oz fine sorghum meal with the remaining 3 ¼ cups water in a jug to a smooth, thin paste.
Step 4: With the pot over a medium heat, pour in the sorghum paste in a slow stream, whisking all the time, until the porridge thickens and starts to plop.
3 minStep 5: Turn the heat to low, cover and cook, stirring firmly every few minutes and scraping the bottom, until the raw, floury taste has gone and the porridge is thick enough to hold a spoon upright.
17 minStep 6: Taste and stir in the 1 tbsp sugar if you like it sweeter. Serve hot.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 220 kcal
- Protein
- 6 g
- Carbs
- 48 g
- Fat
- 2 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bogobe jwa lerotse take?
- About 45 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 35 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
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