Quinua con Leche

The Ecuadorian highland comfort drink: quinoa simmered with milk, cinnamon, and raw cane sugar

Origin: The Ecuadorian Sierra

From the journey of Quinoa.

Quinua con leche, also called colada de quinua, is the warming sweet quinoa drink of the Ecuadorian highlands, a comforting cup taken at breakfast and again in the cool of the evening across the sierra from Riobamba to Otavalo. Quinoa is simmered slowly with milk until soft and creamy, sweetened with panela, the raw cane sugar of the Andes, and scented with cinnamon and sometimes clove, to make something between a thin porridge and a drink, sipped warm from a mug or spooned from a bowl. It is the quinoa of the northern Andean valleys at its most homely and beloved. Where the high Altiplano of Peru and Bolivia treats quinoa mostly savoury, in soups and steamed breads, the moister inter-Andean valleys of Ecuador have a particular fondness for the grain in sweet, milky form, and quinua con leche is the everyday expression of it: a children's breakfast, a grandmother's evening comfort, a cup pressed on a guest against the highland cold. It belongs to the same family as the rice and barley coladas of the Andes, but the quinoa gives it a faint nuttiness and the complete nourishment of the mother grain. Simple, sweet, and warming, it is the gentlest introduction to quinoa, and a reminder that long before the grain became a savoury 'superfood' salad in the north, it was, in its own country, as often a sweet comfort as a savoury staple.

Ingredients

120 g white quinoa, rinsed thoroughly under cold water
500 ml water
750 ml whole milk
1 stick cinnamon
80 g panela (grated) or soft brown sugar, to taste
1 pinch salt
ground cinnamon, to finish

Method

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in several changes of cold water until it runs clear, to wash off the bitter saponins.
Put the rinsed quinoa in a pan with the water, the cinnamon stick, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes until the grains are soft and have uncurled their tails.
Pour in the milk and continue to simmer gently, stirring often, for another 12 to 15 minutes, until the quinoa is very soft and the colada has thickened to a pourable, creamy consistency.
Stir in the panela or brown sugar and cook for a couple of minutes more until dissolved. Taste and adjust the sweetness.
Remove the cinnamon stick. Serve warm in mugs or bowls, dusted with a little ground cinnamon. Loosen with more milk if you prefer it thinner to drink.

Notes

Some Ecuadorian cooks blend the cooked quinoa smooth for a silkier colada, others leave the grains whole. A few cloves or a strip of orange or naranjilla can be simmered in for fragrance. It can be made with water alone, without milk, for a lighter or dairy-free version.

The Gastrographer

Name: Quinua con Leche
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: The Ecuadorian Sierra
Ingredients: 120 g white quinoa, rinsed thoroughly under cold water; 500 ml water; 750 ml whole milk; 1 stick cinnamon; 80 g panela (grated) or soft brown sugar, to taste; 1 pinch salt; ground cinnamon, to finish

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control