According to church tradition, the basis of the Christmas meal is sochivo, prepared from boiled wheat grains, poppy seed juice and honey. But the charter allows it to be replaced with kutia. We have collected 5 recipes for kutia from different cereals and tell you why they are useful.
1. Kutya made from wheat
Ingredients: 200 g of wheat, 3 glasses of water, 1 pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, 125 g of poppy seeds, 100 g of raisins, 100 g of roasted walnuts, 2-3 tablespoons of honey.
Preparation: Rinse the wheat in running water and soak it for several hours. When the grains swell, add salt, vegetable oil, and cook over medium heat until soft. This will take about two hours. If you're short on time, choose polished wheat, which takes 20 minutes to cook. Pour boiling water over the poppy seeds and raisins and leave for 60 and 20 minutes, respectively. Place on cheesecloth and grind in a mortar or blender until juice appears. Combine all ingredients, add honey and stir well.
Benefit: Wheat is rich in vegetable protein, fiber, magnesium, zinc, potassium and calcium. It contains 6 B vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B4, B6, B9), as well as vitamins A, C, E and F. Like others, Christmas kutia made from wheat will be beneficial for the health of the cardiovascular system and prevention diabetes mellitus
2. Kutia from pearl barley (barley)
Ingredients: 200 g pearl barley, 100 g poppy seeds, 100 g walnuts, 100 g raisins, 100 g dried apricots, 2 tablespoons honey, 3 glasses of water, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
Preparation: To make pearl barley cook faster, fill it with cold water for 2-3 hours. When the cereal swells, replace the water and simmer over low heat for 50-60 minutes. To prevent the porridge from sticking, add vegetable oil to the water. Pour boiling water over poppy seeds for an hour, pour hot water over raisins and dried apricots. Grind the walnuts in a mortar. Mix all ingredients with honey and serve with.
Benefit: Like wheat, pearl barley is rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals. In its composition you will find phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and iron. Kutya made from pearl barley not only fills you up for a long time, but is also recommended for dietary nutrition for chronic gastrointestinal diseases. Also, consuming whole barley grains will help in prevention and treatment.
3. Rice kutia
Ingredients: 200 g rice, 100 g almonds, 100 g walnuts, 100 g poppy seeds, 100 g raisins, 100 g dried apricots,
Preparation: To soften almonds, pour boiling water over them for 15 minutes. You will have to do the same with raisins and dried apricots. The poppy seeds are kept in hot water for an hour, after which they are crushed until white juice appears. The rice is cooked over low heat without a lid. When it has cooled, add honey, poppy seeds, dried fruits and nuts to the pan.
Benefit: Rice is extremely beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract, kidneys and urinary system. It is rich in protein, fiber, thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2) and niacin (vitamin PP). When polished, most of these substances are destroyed along with the shell, which is why minimally processed brown and black rice is considered the healthiest. Rice kutia for Christmas will be especially appropriate for gastritis with high acidity, and rice starch is an excellent remedy for diarrhea.
4. Kutia made from barley
Ingredients: 200 g barley, 1.5 liters of water, ½ glass of milk, 100 g poppy seeds, 2 tablespoons of cranberry or currant jam, 2 tablespoons of honey.
Preparation: Boil barley, drain excess water and mix with milk. Steam the poppy seeds in boiling water and grind in a mortar until milk appears. Mix all the ingredients and season the kutia with honey and jam. If desired, you can add dried apricots, prunes and raisins, after pouring boiling water over them for 20 minutes.
Benefit: Barley groats are not ground, so they are especially rich in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals. It contains potassium, calcium, phosphorus and iron, which will help prevent anemia, diarrhea, metabolic syndrome and obesity.
5. Bulgur kutia
Ingredients: 200 g bulgur, 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, 2 tablespoons sunflower seeds, 100 g raisins, 100 g poppy seeds, 100 g walnuts, 1 pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons honey.
Preparation: Cook bulgur until soft for 15-20 minutes. While the cereal is cooling, steam the raisins and poppy seeds, and chop the walnuts. Mash the steamed poppy seeds in a mortar and mix with honey. Season the bulgur, add seeds and sesame seeds.
Benefit: In this cereal you will find potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium and iron, healthy polyunsaturated fats, B vitamins and vitamin K. It has fewer calories than buckwheat, but 1.5 times more fiber, which improves digestion and normalizes metabolism substances. Bulgur is a product with a low glycemic index, which is why nutritionists recommend it for people with diabetes and obesity.
Traditionally, the base for the dish is whole wheat or barley, although other grains can be used. In some regions, it is customary to prepare kutya from rice, lentils, buckwheat and other cereals.
In culinary terms, the preparation is quite simple, but time-consuming. First, the cereal is boiled and then seasoned with milk of poppy seeds, sugar syrup or uzvar. Rich Christmas and Epiphany kutia 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 seed - 3 tbsp. l.
- raisins - 3 tbsp. l.
- honey - 1-2 tbsp. l.
- walnuts - 1 handful
- uzvar - 100-150 ml
Preparation
Before you start preparing kutya, you need to prepare the grain in a special way. It should be clean and stripped. If you have whole wheat, you first need to grind it with a little 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 to cook. I washed the wheat and soaked it overnight in cold water - as the grain swells, it will become softer, which will shorten the cooking process several times.
Previously, kutya was cooked mainly in a cauldron, where it simmered in the oven for a long time. 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 thick-bottomed saucepan, saucepan or ladle with a non-stick coating is suitable 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’s better to drain the water later than to constantly add it). Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off all the foam that had formed abundantly on the surface.
Then I added a small pinch of salt, stirred and set to simmer over low heat. Cooked without lid for about 1 hour. If the water boils very weakly, then the cereal will not need to be stirred at all, it will cook slowly and at the same time it will turn out grain to grain and will not boil over. Only at the very end, when there is practically no liquid left in the pan, can you stir a couple of times so that the porridge does not burn. The grains should turn out soft outside and inside, with a slight whitish tint, but at the same time remain crumbly and not overcooked. If necessary, you can add water, but only hot (!), otherwise the grain will be hard inside. If a little liquid remains after cooking, there is no need to drain it; cover the pan tightly so that the wheat steams a little more.
Separately, I steamed poppy seeds and raisins - poured boiling water over them for 30 minutes so that the water covered them by about 2 fingers. I peeled and chopped the nuts (you can chop them with a knife or crush them with a rolling pin).
Steamed raisins need to be squeezed out of excess liquid. The poppy seeds should be ground with sugar in a mortar or in a blender. I like the last option better, for this I pour the steamed grains into the blender bowl, pour in 2-3 tablespoons of the water in which the poppy seeds were steamed. Then I interrupt him for 3-4 minutes. The result is “milk of the poppy” - a whitish liquid interspersed with small poppy seeds.
And now a little secret. I boiled the “milk” for 2-3 minutes (in the microwave or on the stove) so that the poppy seeds evaporated even more and revealed their flavor better. Then I diluted honey in a warm, but not too hot liquid. Gradually I added uzvar, that is, dried fruit compote (can be replaced with boiled water), and 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 you will have to give up buckwheat honey, as it greatly interferes with the taste of other products.
Kutya should be seasoned shortly before serving. To do this, I pour sweet “milk” over the cooled wheat porridge and mix thoroughly. I leave it for 5-10 minutes to allow the liquid to absorb slightly. If the juice is too thick, you can add more uzvar or cold boiled water. Then, just before serving, all that remains is to add the steamed raisins and nuts (do not add the raisins in advance, otherwise they may become sour and ferment from the honey). That's all! Delicious kutia for Christmas is ready!
On a note
You should not cook a pan of kutia that is too large. Try to calculate the volume you need, since throwing it away is strictly prohibited! As a last resort, you can feed the remaining portion to livestock or poultry.
You don’t eat honey with honey. My grandmother said that too
Now no one can say for sure when people started cooking kutya (kutya, kutia). Moreover, over time, it received many names: kolivo, sochivo, syt, etc. The essence remained the same - it is not just porridge, but a whole ritual for some church holidays (this is written down in the statute). It is customary to celebrate Christmas, Old New Year and Epiphany with kutya on the table. Each day has its own kutya. On Christmas Eve - rich (lenten, but with an abundance of nuts and fruits), on Generous Evening - generous (usually with milk) and hungry (porridge on water with a spoon of honey) at the end of Christmastide.
Cooking kutya
Today you can find many recipes for making kuti. Just ask your neighbors - every family now has its own subtleties. Some people add more dried fruits, some like nuts, some crush poppy seeds, others don’t.
When my grandmother was still a child, there was practically no wheat on store shelves. People were forced to cook kutia from rice. Fortunately, the village had a small vegetable garden, and it was possible to store some grain for the winter; for the “proper” Christmastide, a good half-pound was stored like the apple of one’s eye. They prepared a lot at once, so that there was enough for the family, guests, and even livestock.
Since the grain was taken unpeeled, it was necessary to separate the coarse chaff.
So, it all started with “beating” the grain. Next, the wheat was soaked or immediately simmered in the oven. They did this the night before or even the morning of January 5th. While the base was being prepared, we worked on additives: soaked dried fruits, boiled poppy seeds, chopped nuts and made a broth.
Grandma never respected proportions and was always eye-catching. If you count, then a cup of raisins, a glass of nuts (walnuts) and an incomplete glass of crushed poppy seeds went into the cauldron of kuti. Everything was mixed on the afternoon of January 6 to let it brew. The liquid in the kutia should be to the very top. Additionally, 2 tbsp were added to the “porridge”. spoons of honey (with a mountain). Grandma had a sweet tooth and flavored the kutya with another spoon in her bowl.
The Christmas meal began with a spoonful of kutya. And they ended the same way. Over the years, my grandmother tried cooking with oats, rye and rice. But the most delicious kutya is made with wheat. Although initially throughout Ukraine it was prepared only with rye.
I myself don’t have time to cook, as my grandmother taught me, so I replace the unrefined grain with pearl barley. But I always add broth, as I was taught. Nowadays everyone is trying to make preparation and cooking easier. Therefore, I will give a couple of the most popular recipes for making kuti these days.
Some people prefer thick kutya. But you can always add liquid to it
Kutya in Kiev style prepared on soaked wheat with the addition of raisins and crushed poppy seeds. A glass of wheat per glass of raisins and half a glass of poppy seeds. If desired, add nuts and honey. Dilute with mineral water.
Sochivo(rice kutia) can be made in an hour. Cook the rice; you can steam the raisins in the same pan. Pound poppy seeds with 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar and mix everything. Bring with water to the desired consistency.
Poltava kutya consists of wheat cereal and sweet broth. Additives are usually not added. And the compote is made using prunes, smoked pears and drying.
You can experiment with recipes. Try different cereals, make a mixture of cereals. This will make the porridge richer. This is, in fact, what is needed. After all, why did people (not churchmen) prepare kutya? They believed that the richer and more generous it was, the better the harvest would be (they buried kutya in the garden). Have a sweet treat.
You can find our new recipe for kuti and a guide to Kyiv establishments for celebrating Christmas 2015.
Kutia is a traditional dish of the Slavs. It is customary to serve it on Christmas Eve (January 6), as well as on the second day after it, when it is worn for supper. Some also serve kutya on Old New Year (January 13) and Epiphany (January 18). Kutia is also considered the main dish at funerals and memorial days. In addition to the mentioned dates for serving kutia, it is customary for Orthodox people to place it on the table on Friday of the first week of Lent, which recalls the miracle of the martyr Theodore Tiron. It is usually prepared from wheat, honey and poppy seeds. It used to be believed that the tastier the kutia was on the table, the richer the whole next year would be.
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Traditional kutia recipe
For Christmas, the so-called poor, or lean, kutia is prepared.
Ingredients:
- wheat - 500 g;
- poppy - 200 g;
- raisins - 50 g;
- walnuts - 50 g;
- sugar and honey - to taste;
Preparation:
- 1. Wash and steam the wheat. To do this, you need to pour boiling water over it and leave it to steep for a day. If you buy wheat already steamed, you should definitely try it so that it is not sour or musty.
- 2. Strain the grains and add cold water in a ratio of 1:2.
- 3. Cook over low heat, covered, and do not stir.
- 4. After the porridge has boiled, add salt and stir and cook until done.
- 5. Rinse the poppy seeds, pour cold water over the raisins and let them sit for half an hour, then drain the water and dry.
- 6. Grind poppy seeds together with sugar in the proportion of 1 tbsp. l. poppy seeds for 2 tbsp. l. Sahara.
- 7. Fry the walnuts in a frying pan, chop them, add to the porridge.
- 8. Mix honey with chopped poppy seeds and dry raisins. Add to porridge.
Kutya is usually served cooled.
Instead of wheat, you can use pearl barley or barley porridge (take 250 g of the desired cereal and follow the same recipe).
Barley with jam
Generous kutya can be made with any jam. A very interesting taste is obtained if you use currant jam in the recipe.
Ingredients:
- barley grits - 2 tbsp.;
- water - 3 l;
- milk - 1 tbsp.;
- poppy seed - 1 tbsp;
- honey - 3 tbsp. l.;
- currant jam - 2 tbsp. l.
Preparation:
- 1. Pour boiling water over the poppy seeds and leave for 20 minutes, then drain the water, rinse the poppy seeds and pour boiling water over them again. Repeat the procedure as soon as droplets of fat begin to appear on the surface of the water. After this, grind the steamed poppy seeds in a mortar or blender, gradually adding 1 tsp. boiling water until milk of poppy appears.
- 2. Rinse the cereal until the water is clear, then add boiling water and cook over medium heat, skimming off the foam. When mucus is released (after about 5–7 minutes), remove the porridge from the stove and rinse with cold boiled water.
- 3. Pour hot milk over the porridge and cook until the cereal is completely cooked, stirring constantly.
- 4. Pour honey over the finished porridge and heat again for 5 minutes over low heat.
- 5. Pour jam over the kutia and serve.
Rich
Rich kutya can be prepared from absolutely any type of grain. It is called rich because of the variety of additives and decoration ideas. It is prepared for the Old New Year and is considered festive. If traditionally only honey and poppy seeds are used, then the recipe for rich kutya is a chance for experimentation, and here different design ideas are welcome.
You can add chopped candied fruits and roasted nuts to kutia (almonds, hazelnuts and walnuts are good), fresh fruits and berries. Small colorful candies, marmalade, cinnamon and syrup with the addition of mint leaves can be used as decoration.
Cossack
For Cossack kutya you will need:
- wheat cereal - 2 tbsp.;
- sugar - 1 tbsp.;
- sultanas - 1 tbsp;
- cinnamon - 1 tsp.
For almond milk:
- almonds (raw) - 1 tbsp.
- water - 3 tbsp.
- honey - to taste.
Preparation:
- 1. Pour boiling water over the sultanas and leave for half an hour.
- 2. Rinse the cereal well in cold water (to make the kutia crumbly, it is best to take dark millet). Pour in plenty of water and cook over medium heat until half cooked.
- 3. Drain the water, pour cold water (a small amount) over the porridge and put it back on low heat and cook until done. (Ideally, the water should completely evaporate.)
- 4. Drain the water from the sultanas, add it to the porridge, then add sugar, cinnamon and mix thoroughly.
- 5. Make almond milk: peel the nuts by pouring boiling water over them, then soak the almonds in cold water for 5 hours. If the nuts are not pre-soaked, the milk will turn out beige, not white, but the taste will not change.
- 6. Grind almonds in a blender along with a small amount of water until smooth. Strain the milk using gauze, mix with honey and pour into a jar, preferably a glass one. This milk can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 5 days.
- 7. Kutya is poured with this milk just before serving.
Kutya with rice
Rice kutia is now popular because it is easy to prepare if you follow the recipe step by step.
From raisins and honey
The recipe with honey and raisins is considered a classic because it is prepared quickly and has an excellent taste.
You will need:
- rice - 1 tbsp.;
- water - 2 tbsp.;
- liquid honey - 2 tbsp. l.;
- raisins - 50 g.
Preparation:
- 1. Pour boiled water over the raisins and leave to swell for 20 minutes.
- 2. Rinse the rice until the water is clear, add two glasses of cold water and place on medium heat. Cook for 15 minutes.
- 3. Place the finished porridge in a colander and let the water drain.
- 4. Add honey and raisins to the rice. Leave for 3-4 hours to soak.
- 5. You can decorate the kutya with almonds.
From lentils and rice
Ingredients:
- lentils - 0.5 tbsp.;
- rice - 0.5 tbsp.;
- water - 2 tbsp.;
- dried fruit uzvar.
Preparation:
- 1. Cook rice and lentils separately. Cool and mix.
- 2. Season the porridge with uzvar.
If you prepare everything correctly, the kutia will turn out truly tasty and satisfying.
In a slow cooker
In order to get crumbly kutya, it is better to use a multicooker.
The ingredients are the same as in the recipe with honey and raisins:
- rice - 1 tbsp.;
- water - 2 tbsp.;
- liquid honey - 2 tbsp. l.;
- raisins - 50 g.
Follow instructions:
- 1. Pour well-washed cereal into a multicooker pan and add water in a ratio of 1:2, close the lid and press the “Steamed rice” or “Buckwheat” program.
- 2. Place the finished porridge in a bowl without rinsing and add honey, raisins, nuts and candied fruits.
Bulgur kutia
You will need:
- bulgur - 200 g;
- sesame - 2 tbsp. l.;
- sunflower seeds - 2 tbsp. l.;
- raisins - 100 g;
- poppy - 100 g;
- walnuts - 100 g;
- honey and salt - to taste.
Preparation:
- 1. Cook bulgur for 15–20 minutes until fully cooked. Let cool.
- 2. Steam raisins and poppy seeds.
- 3. Chop walnuts, add poppy seeds and mix with honey.
- 4. Season the bulgar with the resulting mixture and season with seeds and sesame seeds.
Syrup for kutya
Kutya can be poured with syrup, which is quite simple to cook.
To do this you will need:
- granulated sugar - 4 tbsp. l.;
- water - 6 tbsp. l.;
- liqueur or cognac - 1 tbsp. l. (but you can do without it).
Preparation:
- 1. Place water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over low heat until boiling, stirring constantly.
- 2. Remove from heat and let cool at room temperature.
If desired, you can make a thicker syrup. To do this, you need to double the amount of granulated sugar, leave the amount of water the same and add 10 drops of lemon juice.
To prepare uzvar from rose hips you will need:
- rose hips - 200 g;
- boiled water - 1 l;
- sugar or honey - to taste.
Preparation:
- 1. Rinse rose hips with warm water, then pour cold boiled water and leave for 2-3 hours.
- 2. In the same water, put the rose hips on the fire and bring to a boil. Stir for two minutes.
- 3. Remove the uzvar from the heat and let cool for 12 hours.
- 4. Strain the uzvar and add honey or sugar.
Dried fruit uzvar
Unlike the rosehip recipe, honey and sugar are not added.
To prepare you will need:
- dried fruits (usually apples or pears) - 250 g;
- boiled water - 1 l.
Preparation:
- 1. Rinse the fruits with warm water, then add cold boiled water and leave for 2-3 hours.
- 2. Place the fruits, covered with water, over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring for 2 minutes.
- 3. Remove the finished uzvar from the heat and let cool for 5 hours.
People suffering from diabetes should not take this uzvar, as the drink contains a lot of sugar.
Christmas is one of the main and favorite Christian holidays. Its holding is associated with many interesting traditions, the origins of which lie in the darkness of centuries. The eve of Christmas is Christmas Eve - the evening of waiting for the appearance in the sky of the star that once showed the wise men the way to the newborn Baby.
A little about the rules
The meal on Christmas Eve, also known as Holy Evening, is special. Among other dishes, there must be sochivo on the table, also known as kolivo - kutia made from wheat, less often than other cereals, seasoned with sugar, honey, honey filling. Since ancient times, the process of preparing a dish has been divided into several stages.
Firstly, Christmas bread is brewed, which was previously manually pounded with a wooden pestle in the same mortar. Be sure to add warm water to make the husks come off easier. Then the cereal should be sifted, washed, and filled with clean water. And kutia is cooked from wheat - a crumbly lean porridge. Secondly, when the juice has cooled, it should be sweetened. This is done with a mixture of honey and poppy seeds. The poppy seeds are ground until white juice - milk - is released. Or they just grind it. Mix with honey or sugar syrup. To make wheat kutia tastier, add raisins, chopped dried apricots or prunes. And ground nuts. Steam the raisins in advance or even boil them so that they are soft. You can do the same with dried apricots. Approximate consumption of products from which Christmas kutia is made (from wheat): for each glass of cereal you need 100 g of poppy seeds and peeled nuts, a handful of raisins, 3 tablespoons of sugar. If desired, add a little vanillin or vanilla.
Milk colivo: preparation
It will be a very tasty dish if you cook Christmas kutia from wheat in milk. Try this recipe, it will probably take root in your family, and the dish itself will become traditional during the holiday feast. Take about 400 g of whole wheat, which must be soaked for 6-8 hours to soften. Then you no longer need to pound it. Then rinse the cereal, put it in a saucepan with water and let it boil. As soon as this happens, remove the pan from the heat, strain the wheat, rinse, fill it again with clean water and boil.
Milk colivo: completion
As we have already said, according to this recipe, Christmas kutia is prepared from wheat with milk (or cream). So: transfer the boiled porridge into a cast iron pot, add salt to taste, pour in a large amount of whole milk or cream, close the lid and place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees.
When it gets oozing, take it out and cool. Wash 200 g of poppy seeds, scald and grind. Mix with 100-120 g of honey and season with juice. “How to cook kutya from wheat so that it doesn’t turn out too thick?” - you ask. If you didn’t guess the amount of liquid initially, dilute the still warm porridge with milk or cream. Nuts are added at the end. And you can decorate the kutia laid out in a dish with whole prunes stuffed with nuts, pieces of candied fruits, and dried melon. The delicacy tastes wonderful, right?
Kutya monastery
In the abodes of God, the main Christmas Eve treat is often prepared as follows. For every two hundred gram glass of grain, one and a half glasses of water, 100 g of honey and raisins are consumed. Pour the wheat into a cauldron, add water, and place on high heat.
So the porridge should boil for about 3 minutes. Then the heat is reduced to medium for 5 minutes, and very low for 3 minutes. After this, the wheat kutia, the recipe for which you are considering, is removed from the stove, wrapped and infused under the lid for about half an hour. Dilute honey with a small amount of boiled water. Boil the raisins. By the way, honey can be diluted with a decoction after it. Combine the products, mix, leave to soak. Nuts for this recipe are added as desired. Poppy is not added.
Kutya is tender
How to use wheat to make the grains in the porridge soft and melt in your mouth? The question is especially relevant in the case when durum cereals are taken for food. The simplest advice looks like this. When the porridge is cooked and cooled, pass it through a meat grinder.
The result will be an unusually tender mass. Brew poppy seeds with boiling water and place on the stove. Boil it too until soft. To check, take out a couple of grains and try to grind them with your finger. It turns out - that's it, remove from the heat, strain off the liquid, cool, and also into a meat grinder. Add to the wheat, then add softened raisins to it. Grind the nuts in a meat grinder or mixer. By the way, in addition to walnuts, toasted almonds, peanuts or hazelnuts are also very suitable here. Season the kutya with honey or sugar syrup and add a little salt. Confectioners emphasize that a small amount of salt in desserts enhances the sweetness. Decorate the kutia with marmalade. And eat with joy. Yes, the amount of ingredients is about the same as in previous recipes!
Kutya with uzvar
In addition to sochiv, uzvar, a drink made from dried fruits with honey or sugar, is always placed on the table on Holy Evening. It is brewed from a mixture of apples, pears, cherries, and plums. Fragrant, slightly smoky, sweet, it pleases not only with its wonderful taste sensations, but also with the festive mood it creates.
It is worth noting that many ancient recipes, when describing wheat, recommend using uzvar, rather than ordinary water, as the basis for the dish. After all, porridge cooked on it acquires a unique fruity taste, very pleasant. And there is less honey in this kutya than in a regular one. And as additional ingredients, i.e. raisins, compote fruits are quite suitable. No Mac required either. But the cooled kolivo laid out on a dish is sprinkled with powdered sugar. Nuts are added as desired, and not crushed, but in halves of kernels.
If you have a multicooker: necessary explanations
It turns out perfect in a Russian oven - not a single housewife can argue with this statement. However, kutia made from wheat in a slow cooker turns out just as good. True, in order for the result to be what you need, you should follow some rules.
First of all, the amount of ingredients. Products are measured which should be included with your device. On average, for each glass of wheat grains, about 5 measures of water are required. Add salt and sugar to taste, and the rest of the ingredients too. For example, during cooking, a teaspoon of sand is immediately added to the porridge itself, and 2 more, but table spoons, are taken to grind the poppy seeds. Flavor with honey if desired.
Sochivo in a slow cooker
In a slow cooker, wheat kutia for Christmas is prepared as follows. Sort the grains, rinse, soak for 3-5 hours, then strain. Fill the working bowl of your multicooker with them, add the amount of water indicated above, add salt and sugar, cover with a lid and set for 2.5 hours in the “Stew” mode. After the specified time, when the device beeps, place the porridge in a colander or sieve to drain excess liquid. Now it's poppy's turn. It needs to be steamed for 30 minutes in boiling water, then strain, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and grind with a pestle or blender. Season the kutya with poppy seeds, adding pre-soaked raisins and chopped nuts. You can add a little cinnamon to give the coliva a wonderful, rich aroma. The dish will only benefit from it. All that remains is a small matter: dilute honey in warm boiled water, add it to kutya, and top the delicacy with pieces of marzipan and halves of nuts.
Kutia berry
Like any popular dish, sochivo, in addition to traditional recipes, has a lot of varieties. After all, any housewife wants her food to be extraordinary, unique and surprisingly tasty. That’s why kutya is cooked not only with the addition of raisins, but also other berries, canned in their own juice, fresh or frozen. One of the proposed recipes looks like this. Prepare crumbly porridge. An indicator of readiness for you will be wheat grains that are fully opened, well swollen, and have a special creamy taste. Season the cooled kutia with honey or sugar. By the way, if you cook it in syrup, the juice will be even more pleasant. And you'll save on honey. Add the berries you have (drain the canned ones in a colander first) and stir. Sprinkle the kutya with powdered sugar, garnish with berries and serve.
The recipe is special
In previous recipes, all ingredients for wheat kutia were prepared separately. And in this we suggest you take a slightly different path. You need: 400 g of grain, 3 liters of water, 250 g of poppy seeds, 75 g of honey, the same amount of sugar, 200 g of chopped nuts. First, carefully sort and wash the wheat well. Pour it into the pan in which you plan to cook, add 3 liters of water and leave for about overnight or a little less. Then boil the grains in the same water and cook for 20 minutes over high heat. After this, reduce the heat to low and simmer the porridge for 4-5 hours, stirring from time to time so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Combine poppy seeds and honey, but do not chop them in advance. Make a strong syrup from the amount of sugar indicated in the recipe and a few tablespoons of water. When almost all the liquid in the pan has boiled down, and the wheat has opened well and acquired a creamy hue, add poppy seeds and honey to the kutya and stir. Then drain the syrup and add the nuts. Stir again. After this, remove the pan from the stove and leave to cool. Ready kutia can be decorated with raisins, dried apricots, marmalade, slices of fresh apples or citrus fruits. It should be served chilled or at room temperature.
What foodies say
There is no limit to perfection, especially when it comes to how to cook kutia from wheat. You can be convinced of this if you find out that many gourmets suggest adding fried sunflower seeds, apricots, pomegranate seeds, and caraway seeds to the juice. And pre-soak raisins or other dried fruits not in water, but in sweet red wine. And of course, just a little port wine is poured into the colivo if it turns out a bit thick. It’s also good to pour in a little orange juice or sauce and add some zest. This makes the dish much tastier.
