Pumpkin and millet porridge for the first cold mornings

When the first cold mornings come, I make the porridge I grew up with: millet and pumpkin, cooked slowly in milk until the grains are soft and the pumpkin has melted into a golden, creamy pot. It is the kind of breakfast that asks for a heavy pan and a little patience, and pays you back all morning.

Millet is a small, round, pale yellow grain. You can find it in health food shops and many large supermarkets, sometimes sold as millet grain or hulled millet. It cooks quickly, it is naturally free of gluten, and with pumpkin it turns a beautiful colour.

The one step I never skip is rinsing the millet. Millet can taste bitter or dusty if it isn't washed, so I put it in a sieve and rinse it under hot water, rubbing it with my fingers, three or four times, until the water runs clear. Sometimes I simply pour boiling water from the kettle over it and drain it.

For four bowls I use 150 g of millet and about 400 g of pumpkin flesh. I peel the pumpkin, take out the seeds and cut it into small cubes, about a centimetre, so it cooks down quickly. I wash the outside of the pumpkin before I cut it and use a steady board, because a whole pumpkin is slippery and hard.

First the pumpkin goes into a heavy pan with 500 ml of water and a pinch of salt. I bring it to the boil and simmer it for about ten minutes, until the cubes start to soften. Then I add the rinsed millet, stir, and cook for another fifteen minutes, until most of the water has been absorbed.

Now the milk. I pour in 500 ml of milk, stir well, and turn the heat right down. Milk catches on the bottom of the pan easily, so I stir every few minutes and keep it at a gentle bubble, not a rolling boil. After fifteen or twenty minutes the millet is soft and the pumpkin has broken down into the porridge. If it becomes too thick, a splash more milk loosens it.

The last step is the one that makes it. I take the pan off the heat, add a knob of butter and a tablespoon or two of sugar, stir, put the lid on and wrap the pan in a tea towel for ten minutes. The porridge finishes cooking in its own heat and becomes thick and creamy.

Sweetness is up to you. Ripe pumpkin is sweet already, and sometimes I add only a little sugar. Honey is lovely stirred in at the table for the grown-ups and older children, but honey is not suitable for babies under one year old. For a baby, I serve a small, plain portion without sugar or honey, slightly cooler and a little softer.

Porridge is best fresh, but leftovers are useful. I cool what is left, put it in a covered container in the fridge within two hours, and eat it within two days. It sets firm in the fridge; I reheat it in a pan with a splash of milk, stirring, until it is steaming hot all the way through.

Pumpkin and millet porridge. Serves 4. About 50 minutes. You need 150 g millet, 400 g pumpkin flesh, 500 ml water, 500 ml milk, a pinch of salt, 1–2 tbsp sugar and a knob of butter. Rinse the millet well in hot water. Simmer the pumpkin cubes in salted water for 10 minutes, add the millet and cook for 15 minutes. Add the milk and cook gently, stirring, for 15–20 minutes. Stir in butter and sugar, cover and rest for 10 minutes.

Is there a porridge from your childhood that you still make on cold mornings?