Thumpy Rose Even as the internet connects us more and more, it can be rather challenging to find what you’re looking for. Particularly when you’re talking about West Africa food. What Liberians call Moony Kalama is known as rice pap in Sierra Leonne. The only common denominator is that rice holds the trophy for budget friendly vegetarian meals universally as a staple. Moreover, as one of the popular African recipes, rice pap porridge breakfast is prepared in a variety of ways. And not to mention the different spelling- menh!
Ya Hello-o, the good news is, our rice pap porridge breakfast recipe has all the info you’ll need to enjoy this sweet nutritious bowl…
Furthermore, you’ll get clear step-by-step instructions on how to make the rice balls yourself in our next article. Please sign up for our newsletter so you don’t miss out on this.
Rice Balls Bursting with Flavors
Moony Kalama, African rice porridge breakfast is a creamy, savory, and sweet traditional porridge. On top of that, it is very easy to prepare and one of the budget friendly vegetarian meals on most African plates. You’ll only need to boil the rice balls in hot water, add a sweetener and give it a kick with lime juice and some milk. Try it oh, na u be dey jodge.
Picture this, early morning in central Monrovia a street food vendor patrols from house to house, corner to corner saying “Moony Kalama! hot morni kalama!”. The vendor repeats this phrase loud enough as they pass by signaling to anyone who wants a hot rice pap porridge breakfast to buy it now before they pass-on by. They walk fast so you have to catch them. The hot textured porridge shown in the video, imagine they carry this food on their heads in a plastic bucket with a lid. They put the plastic bucket in a small tub and sit the hot bucket of morni kalama on clothes to protect their heads.
Without a doubt, they know people will not buy cold porridge. So they are very determined to keep it hot and insulate it as much as possible and by 9 or 10 am, their bucket is empty. It is rare to see porridge vendors at noon or at night time. Which happens but RARELY.
Unlike many rice balls recipes from around the globe, Liberians use rice flour to mold these tiny dough balls that make this West Africa food recipe unique. Now, do you understand how special and intimate this dish is? A truly authentic experience you will have if you create and eat this.
Related: How to Create Rice balls from scratch for Moni Kalama
Rice Pap Porridge Breakfast Inspiration
To illustrate it further, this video shows you how to make the delicious, nutritious Moony Kalama, African rice pap porridge breakfast. It is quite similar to this nutritious millet porridge- Buttery Motogo wa Ting but, the rice balls make it more fun. As one of the popular African recipes, this plant-based porridge is with no doubt one of our most loved, most treasured ancestral dishes from the Fula and Mandigo people in Liberia.
You need to give it a try if you never have. Please let us know how it turned out for you. Leave a comment below. Remember to take a picture too. Curious about a no-animal-meat food lifestyle? Check out our Instagram page for real-life inspirations 😊.
How to Cook Moony Kalama Rice Pap Porridge
This Creamy and tasty traditional rice porridge is a hearty breakfast you can enjoy throughout the day. Add a little flavor, and the rice balls will melt in your mouth with a delightful sweet and sour taste.
Ingredients
- 1.5 Cup Water (use less for desired consistency)
- Rice Balls - "Yehfoure" or "M'Bohiri"
- 2 TBS Sugar
- Lime
- Milk (optional)
Instructions
- We made nutritious moni kalama, one of the most popular African recipes, using our homemade rice balls. You can purchase your rice balls pre-made at the store, BUT making them at home brings about a very satisfying experience. Please check our recipes on how to make rice balls for African porridge and learn this precious skill.
- If you successfully make the rice balls, spread them on a wide plate and place them in the freezer for about an hour before using them. This ensures they don't stick together when preparing your creamy, hearty and delicious rice porridge breakfast. Get them out of the freezer and let them sit for about 10 minutes so they loosen up from the container you used to place them in the freezer. If you're using store-bought rice balls, please skip this step.
- In a deep cooking pot, bring to a complete boil 1 and 1/2 cups of water. Pour in the rice balls as you stir so they don't stick at the bottom of the pot.
- Let them cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. You'll have to stay close by so you keep stirring it occasionally not letting the rice balls sit at the bottom of the pot. Remember not to cover the pot when cooking.
- As the pap cooks, the consistency will start to thicken. Put the heat on low and stir it from the bottom of the pot. Add sugar or any sweetener of your choice.
- The more it cooks, the more it thickens so if you want it watery, you'll cook it for less time. When it gets to your preferred consistency, turn off the heat and serve.
- Once the M'bohiri is done, add milk and lime juice. Although these are optional, adding them takes this West African food a notch higher. You have to taste it yourself Ooo.
- Enjoy with bread or muffin. Delicious👌
Notes
- As one of the very affordable food recipes, you can flavor it with what is available. If you don't have lime juice, for example, you can use tamarind juice. Soak tamarind in water for about 10 minutes, sieve out the seeds then use the juice for your moni Kalama.
