This delicious Russian spiced pumpkin porridge recipe makes my take on the traditional Cossack comfort food from Southern Russia, between Ukraine and the Caucasus Mountains, where my grandfather was born. Made with butternut pumpkin and barley, it’s savoury, sweet and gently spiced with cinnamon, allspice, cumin, turmeric, and paprika, and given texture with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and currants.
If you’re a pumpkin lover – try our recipes for a spiced pumpkin soup and Cambodian pumpkin coconut soup if you are – and if you’re fond of sweet and savoury porridges, such as my buckwheat kasha with bacon, eggs and mushrooms, you’ll love my take on this spiced pumpkin porridge with spices, seeds and dried fruit, topped with crunchy caramelised pumpkin.
I grew up with a much simpler version of this traditional pumpkin porridge, which, while eaten all over Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring Slavic countries is a specialty of Kuban in Southern Russia. The region lies between Ukraine and the Caucasus and has long been home to the legendary Cossacks. This is Cossack comfort food.
You can serve this pumpkin porridge for breakfast, lunch or dessert. It would be wonderful for a weekend fall/autumn brunch although we’ve been tucking into it on warm spring days. It’s nothing if not versatile: use any kind of pumpkin, although I love sweet butternut pumpkins for this dish, and you can switch out the spices, seeds and dried fruit.
I’ll tell you more about this Russian spiced pumpkin porridge recipe below. If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, I have dozens of Russian-Ukrainian family recipes and we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives. You can save your favourites by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create your own private account.
Pumpkin Porridge Recipe with Spices, Dried Fruit and Seeds
This Russian spiced pumpkin porridge recipe makes my take on the traditional Cossack pumpkin porridge of Southern Russia. My grandfather was born in a village in Donbas during the Russian Empire, which was renamed Donetsk and became part of Eastern Ukraine. It’s now the disputed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The largely uninhabited region was part of the ‘Wild Fields’, once home to various nomadic peoples until the Don Cossacks settled in the 17th century, and later became part of Novorossiya (New Russia). Around the dinner table, Papa often regaled us with stories about the brave Cossacks. Papa revered them from his Western Sydney dining home – they were warriors, adventurers and free people in a feudal society – but as a child in Russia feared them.
In the kitchen, my grandmother told me about Cossack food. Baboushka came from a village near Odessa, now in Southwest Ukraine but part of the Russian Empire when baba was born. Her mother, my great-grandmother was from a village near Lutsk, now northwestern Ukraine, but part of the Russian Empire before being seized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, then the Polish army, when it became Łuck.
Yet many of the Russian dishes and Ukrainian dishes that my grandmother and great-grandmother cooked originated in Cossack cuisine, including the cold summer soup okroshka, the Russian fish soup ukha, stuffed cabbage rolls, and varenyky – the Russian-Ukrainian dumplings filled with mashed potatoes and caramelised onions, braised cabbage, and summer berries – and kompot, which was always in my grandparents’ fridge in summer.
Tips to Making this Pumpkin Porridge Recipe with Spices, Dried Fruit and Seeds
I only have a few tips to making this Russian spiced pumpkin porridge recipe for my take on the traditional Cossack comfort food, but they’re important tips, starting with the ingredients.
The Ingredients
Firstly, don’t be deterred by the long list of ingredients. More than half of the ingredients are dried spices, dried fruits and seeds and it will take you all of 5 minutes to prep those.
Barley
The key ingredient in my pumpkin porridge is barley. Historically, millet was used, but these days a lot of Russian and Ukrainian pumpkin porridge recipes call for rice. You can make a delicious pumpkin porridge out of any of the ancient grains, but I adore barley.
Make sure to rinse the barley in a fine mesh strainer under cold water to remove any impurities. I almost broke a tooth on a tiny stone I recently found in my barley as I hadn’t washed it long enough or it was too large to slip through my strainer.
The barley should cook in 30-35 minutes. I once had a reader tell me that was too long. I’ve been cooking barley my whole life, as have my mother, grandmother and great grandmother. In my experience, at 30 minutes the barley is still tender, but it will continue to soften. To be safe, follow the directions on your packet of barley.
Dried Spices, Seeds and Dried Fruits
This pumpkin porridge recipe is nothing if not versatile – as I indicated with the barley, which could be substituted with millet, rice or any ancient grain – so you could swap out any of the spices, seeds or dried fruits.
I use a combination of dried spices, seeds and dried fruits traditionally used in Russian cuisine, particularly the cooking of Southern Russia, including allspice, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric, and paprika, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), dried cranberries, and black currants.
But you could swap out many of those ingredients. For me, allspice, cumin, turmeric and paprika are essential spices, but you could use nutmeg instead of cinnamon, any kind of paprika (smoky or sweet) or even a little chilli powder. Ground cloves would also be delish.
Pumpkin
You could really use any kind of pumpkin or squash, but I really love butternut pumpkin in this pumpkin porridge. The pumpkin is easy to prep: you just need to peel the pumpkin, deseed it, and cut it into roughly 3cm cubes.
You’ll be frying all the pumpkin pieces until tender and golden in extra virgin olive oil, then removing half and setting those aside before frying the remaining pieces of pumpkin in butter until caramelised, brown and crunchy.
Sunflower oil and vegetable oil are traditional cooking oils in Russia and Ukraine, so it’s not strictly traditional but I much prefer extra virgin olive oil. Use a quality butter but feel free to use salt-free butter or salt-reduced butter if you’re watching your sodium intake.
The Cooking Process
The cooking process for making this pumpkin porridge is straightforward if you follow my recipe. First, you’ll boil the barley then while the barley is cooking you can combine the dried spices in a dish, and seeds and berries in a separate dish.
Next, you’ll pan-fry the butternut pumpkin cubes, removing half when cooked, then continue to fry the remaining pumpkin until caramelised, brown and crispy, and set it aside.
After that, you’ll transfer the barley to the pan, add chicken stock, return the first batch of pumpkin pieces, add the spice mix, and half the dried fruit and seed mix, combine, taste, and adjust the seasoning.
Lastly, you’ll distribute the barley pumpkin porridge between bowls, top with the crispy caramelised pumpkin, sprinkle with the remaining seeds and dried fruit, garnish with fresh dill, and serve. Too easy. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Porridge Recipe with Spices, Dried Fruit and Seeds
Ingredients
- 2 cups barley - rinsed in a fine strainer under cold water to remove impurities
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 2 tbsp dried cranberries
- 1 tsp black currants
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 500 g butternut pumpkin - peeled, deseeded, cut into 3cm cubes
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp fresh dill sprigs
Instructions
- To a medium-sized pot, add 2 cups of barley and 6 cups of water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer for 30-35 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.
- While the barley is cooking, combine the dried spices and salt in a dish, and in a separate dish combine the sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and black currants and set aside.
- Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large deep frying pan until shimmering and fry the butternut pumpkin cubes until tender. Remove half the pumpkin pieces and set aside.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan and continue to fry the remaining pumpkin until it’s caramelised, brown and crispy, then remove and set aside.
- Transfer the cooked barley to the deep frying pan, add the cup of chicken stock, return the first batch of pumpkin pieces, add the spice mix, and half the dried fruit and seed mix, thoroughly stir to combine, add a cup of water if too dense, and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as you like: it should be gently spiced, savoury and sweet.
- Divide the barley pumpkin porridge between bowls, spoon the crispy pumpkin on top, sprinkle with the remaining seeds and dried fruit, and garnish with fresh dill sprigs.
- Serve with more fresh dill, seeds and dried fruit to customise. A dollop of sour cream on top is delish.
Notes
Nutrition
Please do let us know in the comments below if you make our Russian spiced pumpkin porridge recipe, as we love hearing how our recipes turn out for you.
