Chura Gerteh

Easy·20 min active + 1 hour 10 min resting

Gambian breakfast porridge — raw peanuts and rice pounded together and slow-cooked in water with sugar into a thick, creamy, nutty porridge, served with sour milk, yogurt, or condensed milk. A staple Mandinka breakfast (and supper) across The Gambia.

Chura gerteh (also spelled churra gerte or chura gherte) is the Gambian sweet peanut-and-rice porridge served for breakfast. 'Gerteh' (gerte) means peanut/groundnut in both Wolof and Mandinka. The dish is rooted in the Senegambian groundnut belt — peanuts are The Gambia's traditional export crop, planted on nearly half its farmland — and sweet peanut porridge is also served at Mandinka naming ceremonies. (It is distinct from chereh, the millet-and-peanut porridge of the Serer.)

Spoon up chura gerteh — creamy beige porridge with visible rice grains, golden-brown from peanut, slightly sweet, crushed peanuts on top. Bite: rice cooked soft and silky, peanut's nutty richness, gentle sweetness, with a cool tang of yogurt or sour milk stirred through. The everyday Gambian breakfast.

Raw peanuts and rice are pounded fine together (or peanut powder is added to pounded rice), then added to boiling water and stirred constantly for about 20 minutes until thick. Constant stirring disperses the starch so it gelatinizes evenly without lumping or scorching; grinding the peanuts to powder first distributes their fat and protein smoothly through the porridge. Sugar is added near the end; yogurt or condensed milk is stirred in at serving.

Variations

Chura with extra peanuts. With banana. Sweet/savory versions.

On the Palate

Where Chura Gerteh sits in the Gambian flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 6

How it's made

8 steps · 20 min active + 1 hour 10 min waiting

1
480 min
Soak 250 g millet in water overnight; drain.
2
4 min
Bring 1 L water + pinch of salt to a boil. Add millet.
3
28 min
Simmer 25-30 min until millet is tender.
Watch out
Simmer until the millet grains go soft and swollen before you add anything else — hard grains won't soften once the milk and sugar go in.
4
2 min
Mix 100 g peanut butter with 100 ml warm water; stir into porridge.
5
2 min
Add 80 g sugar + 1 tsp vanilla (optional) + 200 ml milk or coconut milk.
6
11 min
Simmer 10 min until creamy.
Watch out
Stir often as it finishes and pull it when it's creamy but still pourable — it keeps tightening in the bowl.
7
1 min
Taste; add more sugar if desired.
8
2 min
Serve in bowls topped with crushed peanuts. Eat warm for breakfast.