Kutya is festive. Christmas kutya from wheat

Among the Slavic peoples who profess Orthodoxy, on the days of commemoration of the dead and on Christmas Eve, it is customary to cook crumbly porridge. Such a ritual dish is called kutya. Every housewife can make it, since porridge has a very simple cooking technology. The basis is cereals (wheat, oats, pearl barley or rice), honey, dried fruits, poppy seeds and other products can be used as additives. A variety of recipes will help you choose a ritual dish according to the occasion and taste.

What is kutya

A memorial or Christmas table suggests the presence of several traditional dishes. Kutya is a porridge that can be prepared from wheat, oats, barley or rice. Traditionally, honey and raisins are added to the dish. Grains are a symbol of Sunday, and sweet additives are the spiritual blessings of eternal life. They cook porridge not only for funeral dinners, but also for Christmas, Epiphany, New Year.

At the same time, on Christmas Eve it is supposed to eat a poor kutya containing only cereals, honey, raisins and other dried fruits. This tradition is explained by the fact that the day before Christmas is included in the fasting period. On New Year's Eve, it is allowed to cook rich kutya. The dish got its name because it can be diversified by adding fats of animal origin: cream, milk, butter.

How to cook

The dish belongs to the ritual, so its preparation is accompanied by a number of rules. The following conditions are recommended:

1. Cereal grains must be whole, not boiled soft.
2. In order for the coming year to be plentiful, it is recommended to add pieces of marmalade, candied fruits, cream, nuts, jam to the porridge.
3. If you want to get a more tender kutya, to speed up its cooking time, you can deviate from the tradition by cooking it from rice grains.
4. Groats for such porridge should be thoroughly washed and soaked in water for several hours. When using rice, the process can be shortened.
5. To get a semi-liquid product, sugar or honey must first be dissolved in water or made into a bowl, then pour the cereal with syrup.
6. Ritual porridge should not only saturate the body with complex carbohydrates and other nutrients, have a pleasant taste, but also look beautiful, therefore, when serving, the dish is sprinkled with nuts, dried fruits, and candied fruits.
7. According to tradition, the ritual product must be consecrated. If it is not possible to do this in the church, sprinkle the porridge with holy water.

Kutya recipe

By tradition, the basis of the dish is wheat, but it is allowed to use other types of cereals (rice, oats, pearl barley). You can diversify the product by adding fruits, prunes, raisins, dried apricots, nuts. In fasting, to make porridge sweet, it is recommended to put honey, on other days you can sprinkle with sugar. As a dressing for lean kutya, nut or poppy milk is used, it is allowed to pour rich cream, jam, syrup.

memorial

• Time: 2 hours.
• Calorie content of the dish: 162 kcal.
• Purpose: memorial table.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Kutya at the wake is a traditional dish. Cooking it will not be difficult, since the process is the preparation of ingredients, boiling cereals and mixing the base with additives. This porridge is very tasty and satisfying. To increase the cooking speed, barley is recommended to be replaced with long-grain rice. Serve the product chilled, you can with bread.

Ingredients:

• prunes - 100 g;
• granulated sugar - to taste;
• whole pearl barley - 0.2 kg;
• vegetable oil - 30 ml;
• white raisins - 50 g;
• poppy - 100 g;
• honey - to taste;
• nuts (almonds) - 50 g.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse pearl barley thoroughly. Pour the grains with clean cold water and leave overnight to soak. Rinse the prepared barley again, transfer to a saucepan, pour in vegetable oil.
2. Add to the cereal 2 tbsp. water, salt, cook for about 1 hour until soft. During cooking, foam should be removed from the porridge.
3. Rinse nuts and dried fruits well. Distribute raisins, poppy seeds and prunes in separate containers, pour boiling water over, leave to soak for 60 minutes. Peel the skin off the almonds. To do this, soak the nuts for 10 minutes. Place the prepared product in a pan without oil, dry a little.
4. Drain the water from the poppy seeds, crush the seeds using a mortar. Remove the liquid from the containers with dried fruits, put the raisins and prunes on paper towels, pat dry. Cut the prepared ingredients into small strips.
5. Put dried fruits, almonds and poppy seeds to barley kutya, add honey and sugar. Mix all ingredients well. Kutya should be served chilled.

Funeral with raisins in a slow cooker

• Time: 2 hours.
• Servings: 5-6 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 162 kcal.
• Purpose: on the memorial table.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

The process of preparing a funeral kutia in a slow cooker will not cause difficulties even for a novice hostess. When using this kitchen appliance, it is not necessary to soak the wheat, you only need to rinse it thoroughly. In a slow cooker, the grains will steam well in the time allotted for cooking. The porridge will turn out crumbly, satisfying and tasty. You can decorate it with poppy seeds, nuts and small sweets.

Ingredients:

• honey - 500 g;
• wheat grains - 0.5 kg;
• raisins - 0.2 kg;
• water - 2 l;
• walnuts - 100 g;
• poppy - 100 g.

Cooking method:

1. Wheat must be carefully sorted out. Rinse the beans under cool running water. Place the cereal in the multicooker bowl. Pour the grains with water, previously cleaned by the filter.
2. Set the “Cooking” mode on the kitchen appliance, mark half an hour on the timer. After the beep, leave the porridge on the "Heating" option for another 60 minutes until the product becomes soft. Place the finished wheat in a sieve and rinse again under cold running water.
3. Arrange raisins and poppy seeds in separate deep containers, soak in boiling water for 60 minutes. Chop nuts.
4. Put the wheat porridge in a deep bowl. Place nuts and raisins on top.
5. Poppy seeds should be mixed with half of the indicated amount of honey, grind in a blender for 2 minutes. Add the resulting mass to the porridge.
6. Pour the remaining honey, mix all the ingredients well. Add some warm water to make the porridge sticky. Chilled funeral kutia is served.

Christmas

• Time: 2-3 hours.
• Servings: 3-4 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 180 kcal.
• Purpose: Lenten table.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Christmas kutia is based on wheat, therefore, to obtain a soft porridge, grains must first be soaked for several hours. Lean recipe involves the addition of poppy seeds, raisins and nuts. If you want to make a rich Christmas kutya, you can add butter or milk. When serving on a festive table, decorate the dish with colorful candied fruits, pieces of marmalade and small candies.

Ingredients:

• honey - 80 g;
• salt - 1 pinch;
• walnuts - 0.1 kg;
• vegetable oil - 30 ml;
• poppy - 125 g;
• dried fruits - 0.2 kg;
• wheat - 1 tbsp.;
• raisins - 0.1 kg;
• water - 2 l.

Cooking method:

1. Wheat must be sorted and washed well, then soaked for a couple of hours. Place the prepared grains in a cauldron, salt, fill with water. Add vegetable oil to the dish. Cooking porridge takes about 2 hours.
2. Boil the water, soak the poppy seeds in it for about 60 minutes. Throw the grains on a sieve, let the liquid drain. Grind the poppy with a blender until white.
3. Soak the raisins in boiling water for 20 minutes. Drain the water, dry the berries, spreading them on a napkin.
4. Rinse any dried fruits thoroughly, place in a saucepan, add 400 ml of water. Put the dishes on a small fire. When the water boils, cook the uzvar for about 10 minutes. Cool the mass to a warm temperature. Drain the liquid into a separate container, add honey, stir until the sweetness is dissolved.
5. Place the finished wheat inside a deep bowl, wait for it to cool. Nuts must be chopped, fried a little, added to kutya.
6. Mix chopped boiled dried fruits, mashed poppy seeds with porridge.
7. Transfer kutya with additives to a bowl with honey. Mix all ingredients well. When serving, decorate the dish with candied fruits and nuts.

Rice with raisins and nuts

• Time: 2.5 hours.
• Servings: 3-4 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 165 kcal.
• Purpose: Lenten table.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Rice kutya is easy and quick to prepare. A crumbly, tender and nutritious porridge comes out of long-grain cereals. Rice cooks well, so it does not need to be soaked before cooking. Adding various types of nuts and raisins to kutya will help make the dish fragrant and tasty. For filling porridge, use liquid honey or sugar syrup.

Ingredients:

• liquid honey - 100 g;
• poppy - 170 g;
• almonds - 75 g;
• hazelnuts - 75 g;
• raisins - 170 g;
• long-grain rice groats - 0.3 kg;
• walnuts - 75 g.

Cooking method:

1. At the first stage, you need to get a crumbly porridge. To do this, rinse the rice thoroughly and boil according to the instructions on the package until soft.
2. Pour the walnuts into a dry frying pan, fry a little. Remove the peel from the fruit, break it into several pieces.
3. Poppy fill with boiling water, leave to soak for 30 minutes. Then drain the water, pass the grains through a meat grinder twice (you can use a blender).
4. Steam the raisins with boiling water for half an hour, drain the water, dry the fruits on paper towels.
5. Combine rice porridge with nuts, poppy seeds. Add raisins to the dish. Dissolve honey in a glass of warm water, pour the resulting kutya dressing. Mix all the ingredients, put the dish on a deep plate. Use nuts for decoration.

With barley raisins

• Time: 1.5 hours.
• Servings: 3-4 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 162 kcal.
• Purpose: in the post.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Pearl barley has many useful properties, while it does not need to be soaked for a long time, which will reduce the cooking time of kutya. You can adjust the required amount of sugar according to your taste so that the dish does not turn out too cloying. Be sure to soak the raisins in boiling water to make them soft and juicy. When serving, garnish the porridge with slices of apple, cherry or pear.

Ingredients:

• walnuts - 1/3 tbsp.;
• granulated sugar - 30 g;
• raisins - 1/3 tbsp.;
• pearl barley - 1 tbsp.;
• poppy - 1/3 st.;
• honey - 30 g.

Cooking method:

1. Take the required amount of barley, rinse, soak in boiling water for 10 minutes. Put the pot with cereals on the fire, cook until the grains become soft.
2. Rinse, steam raisins with hot water. Leave it on for 25 minutes. Grind the poppy with a coffee grinder.
3. Place the cooked barley in a deep plate, add honey and sugar to the porridge. Mix the dish until the sweet ingredients are completely dissolved.
4. Crush the nuts using a rolling pin. Drain water from raisins, squeeze. Add nuts, poppy seeds and dried berries, stir.

• Time: 2.5 hours.
• Servings: 3-4 persons.
• Calorie content of the dish: 175 kcal.
• Purpose: for Christmas, New Year's table.
• Cuisine: Russian.
• Difficulty: easy.

Rich kutya is allowed to be served on the festive table on days that are not included in the fasting period. In such a dish, in addition to the components specified in the recipe, you can add butter, milk and cream. Wheat grains are allowed to be replaced with long-grain rice. To make the dish look beautiful, when serving it, you can sprinkle it with chopped nuts, sweets, candied fruits, pieces of marmalade.

Ingredients:

• prunes - 70 g;
• raisins - 150 g;
• honey - 100 g;
• dried apricots - 100 g;
• sugar - 50 g;
• poppy - 120 g;
• wheat - 0.2 kg.

Cooking method:

1. Rinse the wheat using a stream of cold water. Put inside the multicooker bowl. Set the device to the “Porridge” mode for 40 minutes. After the beep, put the kutya in a separate container.
2. Place dried apricots and prunes inside the multicooker, pour in 0.3 liters of water. It is required to cook the uzvar by setting the "Soup" mode, 20 minutes.
3. Strain the prepared liquid, set aside the fruit. Add honey to the bowl.
4. Raisins must be sorted out, washed well, steamed with boiling water and allowed to stand for 15 minutes.
5. Fill the poppy with water so that the liquid completely covers the grains, put on fire. Boil for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. When the poppy is ready, drain the liquid through a sieve, rinse the grains with cold water, grind with a blender with sugar.
6. Cut boiled dried apricots and prunes into small pieces. Add dried fruits and poppy seeds to kutia, fill with knots.

Cooking kutya is easy, but the ritual dish must comply with certain canons, turn out tasty and beautiful. To do it according to the rules, follow these recommendations:

1. Kutia should turn out crumbly, so choose polished long-grain rice for its preparation.
2. When cooking cereals, pour a little less liquid than the recipe calls for. Take a sample while cooking. If the center of the grain looks raw, add a small amount of water.
3. To give juiciness and softness to raisins, the berries must be soaked using boiling water.
4. Cooking kutya requires the use of liquid honey. If yours is sugared, melt the sweetness in a water bath.
5. To avoid burning cereals, it is recommended to use dishes with a thick bottom for cooking.
6. Kutia is not intended for long-term storage, as it contains honey. The product of beekeeping has the ability to ferment. For this reason, it is not recommended to put fresh, unprocessed fruits, they are better used for decoration when serving.

Video

Kutya - what is it? You will find the answer to the question asked in the article. We will also tell you about how this dish is prepared and on what occasions it is served at the table.

general information

Kutia is a funeral and ritual Christmas dish of the Slavs, which is especially common in the eastern and southern regions of our country. So what is this lunch? Kutya is a porridge made from whole grains of wheat. Although it is often made from barley, as well as other cereals, including rice.

Before serving, the dish must be poured with honey, honey or sugar, and poppy seeds, large raisins, nuts, milk and even jam are added.

Kutya is a ritual Christian dish. In the Orthodox Church, there is a custom to use it on Friday of the first week of Great Lent. It is on this day that the martyr is remembered

Traditions

The name of the presented dish is of Greek origin. This word was used as a designation for boiled wheat, which commemorated dead ancestors. Together with the Christian traditions and religion of Byzantium, the custom of cooking kutya very soon took root in our country.

Among the Poles and Eastern Slavs, kutya with raisins is always present on the Christmas table. In addition, it is often done at Baptism. Thus, the eve holidays themselves began to be called as follows: Kutya, Rich kutya, Poor kutya, Hungry, Water, and so on. By the way, among Russian people, Christmas Eve is also called a caterer.

Remembrance

As mentioned above, Christmas kutya is prepared on a great day. However, among the Eastern Slavs, this dish is usually served not only at the festive table, but also at a commemoration or funeral. First, guests should taste kutya, and then pancakes, jelly with honey and scrambled eggs.

According to tradition, on the night after Dmitriev's grandfathers, Belarusians hang a towel from the window, and put pancakes and kutya for the dead on the windowsill.

Kutya for Christmas: recipes for step-by-step cooking of a delicious and healthy dish

If you want to attract good luck and success to yourself in the new year, as well as protect loved ones from troubles and misfortunes, then you should definitely put kutya on the Christmas table. It's fairly easy to make and doesn't require any special ingredients.

So, to make kutia tasty and satisfying for Christmas, we need the following ingredients:

• wheat (for sprouting or polished) - a full glass;
• cold water for drinking - two or three glasses;
• table salt - an average pinch;
• sugar - a couple of teaspoons;
• vegetable oil without aroma - a tablespoon;
• poppy seeds - 120 g;
• large raisins - about 100 g;
• roasted walnuts - about 100 g;
• any fresh honey - four large spoons;
• dried fruits for uzvar - about 200 g (pears, dried apricots, prunes, apples, cherries, etc.);
• water for the uzvar - two glasses.

We process wheat

Kutia for Christmas will serve as an excellent lenten dish, which all invited guests can enjoy. But for this it must be properly prepared.

First you need to thoroughly sort out the wheat, removing all debris and possible pebbles from it. After that, the product must be thoroughly rinsed in a sieve, poured with plain water and left to swell for several hours or even overnight. If you decide to use polished wheat for cooking kutia, then you should not soak it, because it cooks quite quickly.

Preparing the rest of the ingredients

To make Christmas kutya especially tasty, you should definitely add poppy seeds and dried fruits to it. For this, the grain must be poured with boiling water and left to swell for 60 minutes. Next, they need to be thrown into a multilayer gauze and wait until all the liquid has drained. After that, the swollen poppy should be ground together with sugar in a coffee grinder, mortar or using a blender. At the same time, white milk should appear in the dishes.

As for raisins, they must be washed, kept in boiling water for twenty minutes, and then rinsed thoroughly.

Cooking uzvar

Kutya for Christmas, whose recipes include a minimum of ingredients, should be seasoned not only with fresh honey, but also with rich dried fruit compote. To prepare the uzvar, dried fruits must be thoroughly washed and poured with clean water. After that, the ingredients must be brought to a boil and cook over low heat for about ten minutes.

When the uzvar is ready, it should be filtered through a sieve and mixed with honey. At the same time, it is not recommended to throw away dried fruits. They can be additionally put in porridge or consumed separately.

Heat treatment of wheat

Before you cook kutya, you should boil the swollen wheat. It must be filled with water again, and then add a pinch of salt and vegetable oil without aroma. In this composition, the ingredients need to be cooked until soft in a thick-walled saucepan (cast iron cookware is best).

If you purchased ordinary wheat for sprouting, then it is advisable to cook it for two hours. To do this, you will need about three glasses of water. If you decide to use a polished product, then it will be ready for use in twenty minutes. It should be boiled with two glasses of water.

We form a dish

How to cook kutya for the festive table? To do this, boiled wheat must be discarded on a sieve and cool slightly. Next, you need to put it in a deep bowl and add grated poppy seeds. It is also necessary to put chopped and lightly roasted walnuts, steamed raisins and chopped dried fruits from the uzvar in a bowl. By the way, the last product should be added at will (you can use the whole, or you can use any part).

After all the ingredients are placed in a common container, they need to be poured with honey and mixed well. On this, the process of preparing Christmas kutya is considered complete.

How should a delicacy be served at the festive table?

After all the products are mixed and filled with uzvar, the Christian dish should be laid out in a deep plate, and decorated with candied fruits and pieces of nuts on top.

In the event that you cooked kutya using unpolished wheat, which is cooked for a long time, it is recommended to season it with honey immediately before serving. Otherwise, the cereal will become hard and tasteless.

Summing up

Now you know what kutya is, in what cases it is served at the table, and how it should be cooked at home. I would also like to note that the dish made according to the above recipe is very tasty and nutritious. It is enjoyed by both adults and children. If you do not like the taste of wheat, then kutya can be made from rice or barley.

This is a Slavic dish in the form of porridge made from cereal grains: wheat, barley, and now - most often from rice. It is watered with honey, and poppy seeds, raisins, nuts, milk, jam are also put. Kutya, like all food in principle, symbolizes eternal life, resurrection. The word "kutia" is of Greek origin and means "boiled wheat". It is believed that people knew and used kutya as a ritual dish even in ancient pagan times. Scientists find the roots of kutya in Byzantium under the name kollyba. In Greece, this cereal porridge with fruits was made during funerals.

Kutya was used by the Slavic peoples for wedding treats, for christenings. After all, the seeds of plants are a symbol of fertility, they mean the cycle of life, that is, its eternity, immortality. Seeds can lie for a long time, wait in the wings, fall into the ground, and then reproduce a new life. A new human life is also born. Eating kutya, a person, as it were, enters this infinity of life, becomes a part of it. Not only seeds, but raisins, like berries, contain the germ of life. Sometimes bird cherry is added to kutya, it also stores the seeds of life. Honey is a symbol of sweetness, pleasure, eternal life. Poppy and nuts were considered a sign of prosperity. Delicious, rich kutia contributed to the increase in yield and profit.

Kutia can be memorial and eve, that is, pre-holiday. Moreover, the second destination was in the past even more popular.
Kutya was cooked for Christmas, on Christmas Eve, before the holiday, as a lean, that is, a poor meal.

The set of ingredients was very modest. After all, fasting was still going on at that time. Church tradition prescribed that the whole day had to fast, not to eat anything. And only with the appearance of the first star in the sky did they begin to celebrate. The meal was opened with a spoon of kutya. They also finished the meal with a spoonful of kutia and commemoration of deceased relatives.

Before the New Year, kutya was also boiled, but cream, butter, or just milk was added with a generous hand. This kutya was called rich or generous. It was possible to add to it: dried fruits, compote from them (uzvar), poppy seeds, as well as various nuts, marmalade, candied fruits. Nowadays, they put jam, dried apricots, candies, sometimes even cognac in the festive New Year's kutya.

There was also a third kutia, before baptism. It was most often boiled from grain and honey in water, but raisins were added. It was believed that before consecration it was necessary to fast or, in extreme cases, eat kutya. This kutia was called hungry (or poor, or water). There was also an Orthodox kutya. It was prepared on Friday in the first week of Great Lent, in honor of Theodore Tiron, the Great Martyr. This kutya had to be consecrated in the church. Many traditions and symbols associated with kutya have been forgotten. It is assumed that even fortune-telling on kutya was arranged. Thus, all the facts indicate that kutia was and remains one of the most significant elements of Orthodox symbolism. But most often it is used during funerals, at wakes.

Funeral kutya is an Orthodox dish. It is a symbol of faith in the kingdom of heaven and eternal life. Kutya should be at every funeral dinner, for 9, 40 days, for half a year, a year, etc. There are many modern and old recipes for funeral kutya. She can be both rich and simple, poor. Kutya should be consecrated during the funeral service or the usual, better morning service. But it will not be a sin if you just read a prayer at the table before the start of the meal, it is advisable to sprinkle the kutya with holy water.

God hears prayer. If after the meal there is still a certain amount of kutia left, then you can commemorate her deceased relative during any meal until the kutia is over. Kutya is placed on a common plate, which should be in the middle of the table. All guests scoop up a spoonful of kutia, immediately eat it and commemorate the deceased. There is no one single recipe for making kutya. Usually in the family, the method of cooking is inherited. However, all recipes are very similar.

The basis for kutya is

• millet
• pearl barley
• wheat

That is, cereals popular with the Slavs. The taste differs only due to the additions to the funeral grain porridge. Additives in the form of fruits, honey give kutya sweetness and aroma. They go well with the neutral taste of cereals. Fruits are symbols of heavenly fruits, which the Lord gives to mere mortals.

All living people can be wished to remember their ancestors, but also strive for a brighter future.

The dish is traditionally based on whole wheat or barley, although other grains may be used. In some regions, it is customary to cook kutya from rice, lentils, buckwheat and other cereals.

In culinary terms, the preparation is quite simple, but long. First, the groats are boiled, and then seasoned with poppy milk, sugar syrup or uzvar. Rich Christmas and Epiphany kutya are flavored with honey, nuts, candied fruits and other tasty additives. In today's recipe, I will tell you how to cook kutya for Christmas from wheat (sochivo) on the stove (), I will reveal all the secrets and nuances.

Cooking time: 60 minutes
Total cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Yield: 500 - 700 ml

Ingredients

• wheat - 1 tbsp.
• water for cooking - 3 tbsp.
• salt - 1 chip.
• poppy - 3 tbsp. l.
• raisins - 3 tbsp. l.
• honey - 1-2 tbsp. l.
• walnuts - 1 handful
• uzvar - 100-150 ml

How to cook kutya for Christmas

Before you start cooking kutya, you need to prepare the grain in a special way. It must be clean, rough. If you have whole wheat, then you first need to grind it with the addition of a small amount of water in a mortar to remove the outer shell. I used already processed wheat that I bought at the store. It is usually sold in bags, already steamed and ready for cooking. I washed the wheat and soaked it overnight in cold water - during the swelling process, the grain will become softer, which will shorten the cooking process several times.

Previously, kutya was cooked mainly in a cauldron, where it languished for a long time in the oven. In modern conditions, you can use the oven or cook porridge on the stove. In the first case, ceramic pots with lids are suitable, in which the grain will be ready in about 2 hours (at 150-160 degrees). It will be much faster to cook kutya on the stove. Any heavy-bottomed pot, saucepan, or non-stick saucepan will work for this. So, in the morning, I poured the already well-swollen wheat grains with clean cold water in a ratio of 1: 3 (it is better to drain the water later than to constantly add it). Bring to a boil over high heat and remove all the foam that formed abundantly on the surface.

Then she added a small pinch of salt, stirred and set to cook on a minimum fire. Cooked without lid for about 1 hour. If the water boils very weakly, then the cereal will not need to be mixed at all, it will cook slowly and at the same time it will turn out grain to grain, it will not boil. Only at the very end, when there is practically no liquid left in the pan, you can mix it a couple of times so that the porridge does not burn. The grains should turn out soft on the outside and inside, with a slight whitish tint, but at the same time remain crumbly, not boil soft. If necessary, you can add water, but only hot (!), otherwise the grain will be hard inside. If a little liquid remains after cooking, it is not necessary to drain it, wrap the pan tightly so that the wheat steams out a little more.

Separately, I steamed poppy seeds and raisins - poured them with boiling water for 30 minutes so that the water covered them by about 2 fingers. Peeled and chopped nuts (you can chop with a knife or ceiling with a rolling pin).

Steamed raisins need to be squeezed out of excess liquid. And poppy seeds should be ground with sugar in a mortar or smashed in a blender. I like the last option more, for this I pour the steamed grains into the blender bowl, pour in 2-3 tablespoons of water in which the poppy was steamed. Then I interrupt him for 3-4 minutes. The result is "poppy milk" - a whitish liquid interspersed with small poppy seeds.

And now a little secret. “Milk” I boiled for 2-3 minutes (in the microwave or on the stove), so that the poppy evaporated even more and better revealed its taste. Then, in a warm, but not too hot liquid, she diluted honey. I gradually added uzvar, that is, dried fruit compote (can be replaced with boiled water), brought it to the desired degree of sweetness. By the way, not all honey is suitable for kutya. It is best to use flower, linden honey or herbs, but buckwheat honey will have to be abandoned, as it greatly interrupts the taste of other products.

Kutya should be filled shortly before serving. To do this, I pour the cooled wheat porridge with sweet "milk" and mix thoroughly. I leave it for 5-10 minutes so that the liquid is slightly nourished. If the juice is too thick, you can add more uzvar or cold boiled water. Then, before serving, it remains to add steamed raisins and nuts (do not add raisins in advance, it can become sour and ferment from honey). That's all! Delicious kutya for Christmas is ready!

On a note

Cooking too large a pot of kutya is not worth it. Try to calculate the volume you need, as it is strictly forbidden to throw it away! In extreme cases, you can feed the remaining portion to livestock or poultry.

Kutia is a traditional main Christmas dish made from boiled wheat, honey and poppy seeds. Kutya symbolizes sacrifice to God, because wheat with honey is a sacred part of the holy supper. Poppy symbolizes martyrdom, innocently shed blood. Honey is a symbol of God's word and purity.

Kutia is the main dish on the table, from which it is customary to start a meal. The pot with kutya must be carried by the hostess. The history, symbolism of kutya and its types - read in our material.

History of Kutia

The origin of the word "kutia" originates from ancient Greece and literally translates as "boiled grain". In Greece and Ukraine, the dish was originally associated with the traditional worship of the deceased, and was served on the table on the eve of all religious holidays. Kutia was always present on the table at Christmas, Epiphany and other Orthodox holidays.

Symbolism of kutya

The main component of kutya is grain, which is a symbol of eternal life and rebirth, belief in the immortality of the soul and its reincarnation. Like a seed that falls into the ground and is reborn, so the spirit of a person is reborn in a new body after burial. The grain is able to "sleep" for a long time, retaining life in itself, and then revive it again with the advent of spring.

What is kutya: history and its types

By eating kutya, a person becomes part of the endless cycle of life. Sprouted grains are often added to kutya, which are a symbol of eternal life. Poppy seeds or kernels of nuts in kutia - mean fertility. By adding these products, a person programs himself for wealth, generosity and abundance for the whole family. It is because of this that kutya is often prepared at weddings and at the birth or christening of children. Honey in sochiva symbolizes pleasure and sweet life, but not earthly, but eternal, which awaits a person in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is said that the benefits of the afterlife are so great and wonderful that they surpass the wildest dreams and expectations.

Types of kutia

Each holiday has its own way of cooking. Kutya can be semi-liquid or crumbly, it all depends on the amount of liquid. There are three types of cooking kutya:

- rich kutya (lean kutya with different ingredients, which is prepared on Christmas Eve);

- generous kutya (before the New Year, a quick dish with the addition of butter, cream or milk);

- hungry kutia (on Epiphany, the dish mainly consists of a grain base and a sweetener).

Secrets of cooking kutya

Kutya is cooked from a variety of cereals and grains: wheat, pearl barley, barley, rice, oats and even buckwheat. Wheat or other whole grains are pounded in a mortar with the addition of water. After that, it must be cooked in the oven. Wheat and cereals should be soaked to reduce cooking time. They should be well boiled and become soft.