Bogobe jwa lerotse

Name: Bogobe jwa lerotse
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Ingredients: 500 g pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed; 1000 ml water; 250 g sorghum meal; ½ tsp salt; 1 tbsp sugar (optional)

Vegetarian

Soft sorghum porridge cooked with sweet, mashed cooking melon, a comforting Botswana side for seswaa or eaten on its own.

Bogobe jwa lerotse is a Botswanan porridge, ready in about 50 minutes and made with pumpkin and sorghum meal. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

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Prep: 10 min
Cook: 40 min
Total: 50 min
Serves: 4
Level: Easy
Calories: 257

Ingredients

4 servings

500 g Pumpkin (opens in a new tab), peeled, seeded and cubedStand-in for lerotse, a local cooking melon; butternut or a firm cooking melon also work.Swap: Butternut squash; Melon (A firm, not-too-ripe melon is closer to lerotse.)
1000 ml Water (opens in a new tab)
250 g Sorghum meal (opens in a new tab)Fine sorghum meal (mabele).Swap: Cornmeal (Maize meal is also used.)
½ tsp (3 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 tbsp (13 g) Sugar (opens in a new tab) (optional)

Equipment

Saucepan (opens in a new tab)

Method

1
Step 1
Simmer the pumpkin (opens in a new tab) in the water with the salt until very soft, then mash it into the water.
- 15 min
- medium heat
- Saucepan (opens in a new tab)
How it looks · Photo: Mateusz Feliksik on Pexels
2
Step 2
Sprinkle in the sorghum meal (opens in a new tab) gradually, whisking or stirring hard to avoid lumps.
- 5 min
- medium-low heat
3
Step 3
Cover and cook on low, stirring every few minutes, until thick and the sorghum no longer tastes raw. Sweeten slightly if you like.
- 20 min
- low heat
Food safety: Thick porridge spits; stir with a long spoon.

About this dish

Origin: Botswana · Commonly attributedMore food from Botswana
Dish: Breakfast · Lunch · Dinner · Porridge & cereals · Side dishes
Cooking method: Boiled, Simmered
Taste: earthy, sweet, mild
Diet: Vegan · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegan · Plant-based · Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Ovo-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No gluten ingredients · Dairy-free · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · Low-fat · Low-sodium · DASH-style
Without the optional extras: Whole-food focused, No added sugarWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Budget-friendly · One-pot
Cook more with: Pumpkin · Sorghum meal
Techniques: Boiling · Simmering

Allergens

None of the 14 major allergens appear in the listed ingredients.

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

257 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 438 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

Protein 10%
Carbohydrate 83%
Fat 7%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g*
Energy	257 kcal	59 kcal
Protein	6.5 g	1.5 g
Carbohydrate	56 g	12.8 g
Net carbohydrate	51.3 g	11.7 g
Sugars	4.7 g	1.1 g
Added sugars	0 g	0 g
Fibre	4.8 g	1.1 g
Fat	2.2 g	0.5 g
Saturated fat	0.4 g	0.1 g
Trans fat	0 g	0 g
Cholesterol	—	—
Sodium	299 mg	68 mg
Salt equivalent	0.7 g	0.2 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 628 mg
Calcium: 59 mg
Iron: 3 mg
Magnesium: 97 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 533 µg
Vitamin C: 12 mg
Vitamin D: —
Vitamin B12: —
Folate (DFE): 36 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
*Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
Optional ingredients are not included: sugar.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Sorghum porridge has a pleasant slight bitterness that the sweet melon balances.

Common mistakes

Adding the sorghum meal in one go — sprinkle it in while stirring or it clumps.

Serve with

With seswaa and morogo, or with milk as a breakfast porridge.

Storage

Keeps 2 days in the fridge.

Reheating

Reheat with a splash of water, stirring.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 27 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

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Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed500 g
Sorghum meal250 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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