Helmipuuro pearl porridge

Finnish Traditional Recipe: Helmipuuro / Pearl-Porridge 

helmipuuro

Porridge is a delicious traditional meal in Finland and eaten in history in various ways and different tastes. Still today porridge is served often at schools and kindergartens and among families at home as well. It is a hearty warm dish served as breakfast or a light dinner with fruit, berries, or jams. It is a wonderful meal to enjoy especially in cold times of winter, and also any time of the year as a healthy-easy to prepare dish for the whole family including babies, and toddlers. 

Often foreigners get introduced and familiar with oat porridge (kaura puuro) in Finland. However there are different varieties of porridges eaten in Finland such as rice porridge, vispi puuro, mannapuuro (semolina porridge), and helmipuuro (pearl porridge) which is today’s recipe. 

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Helmipuuro (pearl porridge)

Helmi means pearl in Finnish language, and puuro is porridge. Therefore helmipuuro is the name of this traditional dish which looks like small round balls similar to the pearl-shape. That is why sometimes this dish is called pallopuuro as well (pallo means ball in Finnish).  The helmipuuro should be made with dehydrated potato granules (peruna-suurimo) and sweetened. But nowadays it might not be easy to find potato-pearls in all the supermarkets. (However one can also make it with barley-pearls (ohra in Finnish language), and it is available in most food stores. In this case, the dish would be barley pearl porridge). 

Ingredients for potato-pearl-porridge: 

1 cup pearl granules of potatoes

3 cups milk of your choice (coconut milk for best creamy aromatic result)

¼ cup coconut sugar (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vaniljasokeri (optional)

Instructions: 

-Mix all the ingredients in the pot. 

-Cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

-Check if the pearls are well cooked and soft, if needed, cook a few minutes more. 

-Turn off the heat and let the porridge set for a few more minutes until it thickens.

-Serve warm porridge with fruit, berries, jam, or cinnamon.  

Tips: 

-Nut milks such as almond milk and coconut milk are best choices, because it gives aromatic creamy texture to the porridge. However some people prefer other types of milks because of an allergy to nuts, regular milk, or lactose. Therefore one can use other options available in the shops too. 

-If you don’t want to use any sugar in the recipe, one can cook the porridge without sugar and in the end add raisins on top of the porridge while serving it. One can add cinnamon and  almond flakes as well on top of the warm dish to enjoy with berry jam and fresh fruit as well. 

Translated as pearl porridge, helmipuuro is a traditional dish that is prepared with dehydrated potato granules. When combined with boiling milk, the granules swell and turn into translucent, pearl-like orbs. The porridge is usually sweetened, complemented by various fruit, and traditionally enjoyed as a hearty breakfast.