Malaysian Monday 80: Bubur Gandum

Hellloooo everybody! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, spring is around the corner, yee haa! I am finding it very, very hard to sit still and write this post. My brain is outside in the warm weather, it wants me to go dig my toes in the sand.

So do excuse me if this gets truncated or I start to ramble off in all directions. I honestly had the best intentions to be prepared and do something special for this Malaysian Monday. Why? It’s the end of Ramadhan and some of my friends will be celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri / Eid-ul-Fitr. Also, this Wednesday is Hari Merdeka , or Independence Day in Malaysia.

Unfortunately the best I can do is to offer you my best wishes and a bowlful of this bubur gandum (wheat porridge).

This porridge/ sweet is another comfort food from my childhood, and one I had not thought about, nor eaten for a long time. But Tina helped remind me of it when she left a comment on my black rice pudding post.

Like the black rice pudding, this sweet is extremely simple to prepare, it just involves boiling. But you must, must, must soak the wheat grains beforehand. I didn’t and it took over 3 hours for the grains to cook and soften. A very boring wait.



But I won’t bore you any longer, because I’m off. Enjoy your week, and remember, my friend Suresh over at 3 Hungry Tummies will be hosting the next Muhibbah Malaysian Monday round-up, so do send your entries to him: sureshchong(at)yahoo(dot)com. Plus, Babe In The City - KL is hosting a Merdeka Open House,  check her blog out when she posts that round-up.

Here’s how I made the porridge, just treat it as a suggestion rather than a recipe and go from there.





Bubur Gandum (Wheat Porridge)

about 1 cup whole wheat grains, soaked overnight
at least 4 to 5 cups water
about 1/4 cup gula melaka (dark palm sugar)
caster sugar to taste
coconut milk to taste (add a pinch of salt to the coconut milk)



Place the wheat and water in a large saucepan and boil until the wheat grains soften and open up. Top up the water as necessary. Might also need to skim any scum that rises to the surface. Add the sugar and boil for ten minutes longer. You can use just gula melaka or add caster sugar to make it sweeter.



Serve warm or at room temperature with coconut milk on the side. Some cooks add the coconut milk in and boil it all at the same time. I prefer to add the coconut milk just before eating so I can control how much I put in.