If you carefully study the history of the holiday from the point of view of culinary, it turns out that the hostesses prepared two tables: lean for Christmas Eve and abundantly fast for Christmas morning.

On Christmas night, from 6 to 7 January, a festive Divine Liturgy is performed. On the very day of the holiday of Christmas, believers break their fast (they eat not lean, but quick food). The twelve days following Christmas are called holy days, or Christmastide. This is probably why, according to legend, there should be 12 dishes on the Christmas table. Some of them passed on the morning of January 7 from Christmas Eve - these are kutia and vzvar. The rest, modest, dishes were waiting in the wings.

Christmas Eve: the first star

The holiday begins on the evening of January 6 - Christmas Eve begins. According to church rules and folk tradition, on this day they do not eat until the first star appears in the sky - in remembrance of the Star of Bethlehem, which showed the Magi the way to the place of the Nativity of Christ.

They also say that Christmas is not celebrated alone - it is a family holiday. It was customary to gather either from parents or from the whole big family the eldest in the family. Prior to the first star, the hostess had to prepare several lenten obligatory Christmas dishes. The main items on this menu were kutia, or sochivo, and vzvar (uzvar).

Sochivo, or kutia

An indispensable dish, without which neither Christmas nor Easter was celebrated in pre-revolutionary Russia. Christmas Eve - from Sochiv, or Kuteynik - from Kutya, as the day before Christmas was called. And all of it passed in anticipation of the miracle of birth. It was believed that the richer and tastier the juicy, the more productive the next year will be.

The products from which kutia were prepared were endowed with special significance: grain was considered a symbol of resurrection to life, honey - a symbol of health and a prosperous (sweet) life, and poppy seeds promised prosperity in the family.

Pre-revolutionary everyday life writer A.A. Corinthian wrote: “In the evening, on the eve of the Nativity of Christ, Russians who invariably adhere to old pious customs do not break the fast: according to the Church Charter, it is allowed to eat only sympathetically at this time. going from November 15 (28) until the merry joyful Christmastide ".

However, wheat was not always the basis of kutia. Rice was more often cooked in the southern regions of Russia. However, nuts, honey, and dried fruits remained unchanged in the recipe.

Traditional recipe for sochi

• wheat grains - one glass,
• poppy - 100 g
• peeled walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews - 100 g,
• honey - 3 tbsp.,
• dried fruits.

Crush the grains in a wooden mortar, adding a little warm waterto loosen the wheat shell. Then the kernel must be separated from the husk by sifting and washing. Boil crumbly lean porridge on the water, adding 2-3 glasses of water to the cereal.

Grind poppy seeds until poppy milk is obtained, add honey to it, mix and put in wheat porridge... At the very end, add crushed nuts and dried fruits steamed with boiling water.

Rice soy

• rice - 1 glass,
• raisins - 50 g
• prunes - 50 g
• dried apricots - 50 g,
• almonds or walnuts - 50 g,
• honey - three tablespoons

Rinse rice, pour cold water and bring to a boil. Throw in a colander and rinse again with cold water. Then pour 1.5 cups of cold water and cook until tender without removing the lid. Steam in hot water dried fruits (15–20 minutes).

Chop prunes and dried apricots. Crush the almonds. If all the water has not boiled away, it should be drained, the rice should be cooled. Add dried fruits, honey and nuts to the rice.

Brew

The second must-have dish on the Christmas table. A broth was prepared from dried fruits, but honey was added instead of sugar. The most popular was apple brew with the addition of dry or pickled berries cranberries, lingonberries or raspberries.

In the south of Russia, smoked pear was necessarily added to the drink. Mint, oregano, currant leaves, thyme and other aromatic herbs are often added. It is not necessary to boil the broth: just pour boiling water over the fruit and leave to infuse. A thermos is perfect for these purposes. It is often diluted with broth and eaten in the form of liquid sweet porridge.

Lenten pancakes

Christmas Eve evening was not complete without lenten dishes. But if kutia and broth were required, then pancakes, vinaigrette, cabbage rolls, fish pies, vegetable stew or porridge remained welcome guests on the last day of fasting. Pancakes were common among this menu. They complemented wonderfully boiled fish or caviar, jam or honey. They only made them without milk and butter. For example, on potato broth or mineral water.

The vinaigrette

Lenten vinaigrette or with herring was served very often on Christmas Eve. The recipe is simple, but the dish turns out delicious and inexpensive, which made it possible to cook it in poor families. And in the houses of the wealthy, sturgeon or white fish could be added to the Christmas vinaigrette.

Christmas: Breaking the fast

When the night is over and after the service the family returns to the house, the long-awaited holiday of Christmas begins. The post was left behind, and on the table appear meat dishes, pies with milk and butter, oily fish and sumptuous desserts.

It was believed that baked goose (or other bird) and pork dishes should be an indispensable attribute of a Christmas meal. Of course, on the pre-Christmas days, millions of geese, ducks, turkeys and chickens were brought to the country's bazaars.

"Christmas in Moscow was felt for a long time - a merry, business bustle. Just started talking in Filippovki, on November 14, for Christmas fast, and at the freight stations, especially in Rogozhskaya, geese cackle day and night -" goose trains ", to Germany: earlier it was, before the glacier-cars, with live cargo. Believe it or not - hundreds of trains! The goose went through Moscow - from Kozlov, Tambov, Kursk, Saratov, Samara ... I don’t remember Poltava region, Poland, Lithuania, Volhynia: there are other ways from there. And duck , and a chicken, and a turkey, and a grouse ... capercaillie and hazel grouse, bacon-brisket, and ... - what a soul requires for Christmas "- wrote Ivan Shmelev.

Christmas goose with sauerkraut

• small goose,
• cabbage - 800 g,
• onions - 4 pcs.,
• cumin - 0.5 tbsp.
• salt,
• butter.

If the carcass is frozen, let the goose lie in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Then wash the goose, rub inside and out with salt and caraway seeds. If possible, you can boil the goose in red wine - whole, about 40 minutes. The wine will make the bird soft.

Stew the sauerkraut with butter and onions in a saucepan, covered. Stuff the goose with this cabbage and fry on a baking sheet, pouring a little broth on it and pouring it over the goose. Then goose fat will melt - you will water it.

Pig on the table

No less traditional product there was pork on the Christmas table. According to legend, when Jesus was born, in the manger, all the animals joyfully greeted the divine baby - except the pig. She grunted annoyingly and prevented the baby from sleeping. Therefore, as a punishment, the pig became an indispensable dish on the Christmas table.

Even during fasting, they began to take to the capitals, to central fairs, whole carts of pork - there were huge carcasses, and barrels of corned beef, and suckling pigs. "It's bad or bad, but two or three pork carcasses are necessary, yes, black piglets, roast with porridge, about three dozen, and white, for aspic, moloshnichkov, two dozen, so that there will be enough for conspiracies" - wrote Ivan Shmelev in "God's Summer".

Many dishes were prepared from pork, but in every prosperous house the table was decorated suckling pig with porridge or cold with horseradish.

Cold pig with horseradish

Recipe from the book by Ekaterina Avdeeva "Handbook of Russian experienced hostess"simple: cook the whole pig in salt water with aromatic herbs - thyme, dill - and onions. Then cut into pieces and pour with horseradish and sour cream. Serve cold.

Pork belly stuffed with cabbage and apples

In the old days, they served porridge with pork legs, but you can make pork belly with cabbage and apples to buckwheat porridge. It will turn out very juicy.

• pork belly - 800 g
• cabbage - 400 g,
• apples - 5 pcs.,
• butter - 1 tablespoon,
• onion - 1 pc.,
• salt and pepper.

Chop fresh cabbage, salt and squeeze. Add finely chopped cabbage sour apples, oil, mix. Pork belly wash, chop the bones in several places, cut a large hole between the bones and meat with a knife.

Put prepared minced meat there, sew up, place in a pan or baking sheet, sprinkle with finely chopped onions, add 3 tablespoons of water and fry in an oven preheated to 200 ° C until tender. Serve with crumbly buckwheat porridge.

Pig and rooster aspic

Rinse the shank and legs of the piglet well and chop it into pieces. Place in a saucepan, cover with cold water so that it covers the meat by a few centimeters, boil and remove the foam. After an hour, add the rooster.

Boil the jellied meat over very low heat for 6–8 hours, so that the water boils off to half the volume. Add to broth 20 minutes before the end of cooking bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to taste. Remove the meat from the broth, separate from the bones and cut into pieces. Strain the broth. Pour chopped garlic on the bottom of the dish, put the meat, pour in the broth, stir gently with a spoon and refrigerate until it solidifies.

Rye fish pie

For the test:

• rye flour - 1 glass,
• wheat flour - 1 glass,
• milk - 1 glass,
• dry yeast - 1 tsp.,
• sugar - 2 tsp.,
• salt - 1 tsp.,
• vegetable oil - 1 tbsp. l.

For filling:

• pike perch fillet - 500 g,
• peeled mussels - 200 g,
• onion - 1 pc.,
• carrots - 1 pc.,
• brine pickled cucumbers - 500 ml,
• vegetable oil - 2 tbsp.,
• dill - 1 bunch,
• salt and white pepper taste.

We knead the dough, for which 1 tsp. dry yeast pour 5 tsp. warm water, let stand for 10-15 minutes to swell. Sift wheat and rye flour, pour in vegetable oil, milk room temperature, add sugar and salt, add yeast, knead.

Leave the dough to rise in a warm place. The dough should come up twice and knead twice. We divide it into 2 parts.

For filling in cucumber pickle cook mussels and fish, put them in a colander. Peel and finely chop the onion and carrot. Fry vegetables with fish and mussels in a frying pan. Season with salt and pepper. Turn it off and add the chopped dill. Form a cake in a baking sheet, spread the top egg yolk and bake for 50 minutes at 170 ° C.

Gingerbread

• butter - 100 g + another piece for lubrication,
• dark unrefined cane sugar - 100 g,
• flour with baking powder - 175 g,
• ground ginger - 4 tsp,
• light treacle - 175 g,
• ginger wine - 3 tablespoons,
• eggs of any size, can be broken - 2 pcs.,
• finely grated fresh ginger the size of a hazelnut
• finely chopped canned ginger - 150 g,
• icing sugar - 75 g,
• ginger root for decoration - 1 pc.

Preheat oven to 160 ° C, grease a 23 cm baking dish. Whisk butter and sugar with a pinch of salt until fluffy. Sift flour and ground ginger together.

Pour in the molasses (use a pre-oiled spoon and a silicone kitchen spatula for convenience), 1 tbsp. wine and mix everything. Beat in eggs one at a time, then gradually add flour.

Mix everything with fresh and canned ginger. Spoon the mixture into a baking dish. Smooth the surface and bake for about 50-60 minutes, until the dough sticks to the surface of the wooden skewer in the middle of the pie. Leave the cake to cool in the mold. After the cake has cooled completely, make the frosting by mixing icing sugar and leftover ginger wine, and drizzle over the surface of the pie. Cut the ginger root into thin slices and decorate the cake.

Custard soufflé in Russian

• any berries - 500 g,
• water - ½ glass,
• sugar - 2 cups,
• egg whites - 5 pcs.

Puree the berries, add water and cook. Add sugar (about the same as the mashed potatoes). Beat the whites into a stiff foam. Add to puree. Put the puree in baking tins, put in an oven heated to 170 degrees for 30 minutes.

You will probably be surprised to see porridge instead of baking. But it is not simple porridge, and

Christmas wheat kutia is the main dish of the Christmas table.

There are many recipes for baking for Christmas - some bake stollen, some strudels, rolls with poppy seeds and cherries - but no matter what you cook, there is always kutia on the table!

Love winter holidays with their mysterious aura, sense of miracles and long, glorious traditions! We have such winter holiday traditions, including culinary, there are many, and I try to follow them.

How wonderful it is on January 6, on Christmas Eve, to cook 12 dishes, get the whole family together and look out at the Christmas star in the evening blue January sky! And only then sit down to have supper to the sound of carols "Oh, rejoice, Earth! .."

How wonderful it is on January 7, at Christmas, to exchange rolls - children bring ruddy, rich, round rolls to their parents, and godchildren - to godparents. And in return, they are also given rolls and delicious gifts!

How great it is from January 13-14, on a generous evening, to sow cereals at a friend's house from the bottom of the heart, sing generous gifts and give presents to those who come to you!

When, from year to year, good customs that have long been established are repeated, you feel that there is something on which the world rests. There is a connection between generations, and security, and involvement in something all-embracing, light and real.

And by tradition, the main dish on the Christmas table is wheat kutia. Wheat porridge symbolizes the awakening of the world by the spring after the New Year, it is a symbol of fertility, prosperity and a generous future harvest! Therefore, kuti must be on the table on Holy Evening, and everyone, before trying the rest of the dishes, eats at least a spoonful of kuti.

Kutia is cooked three times a year, and all for the winter holidays. The first time - on Holy Eve and Christmas, the second - on Lavish Evening (Old New Year), and the third time - on Epiphany evening. And the second obligatory dish is an uzvar - a compote of dried fruits. Unfortunately, now fewer and fewer people know about the good old traditions, and a real celebration can be seen somewhere in distant villages. That is why I am writing for you, so that you will honor and have good Christmas customs in your family. Perhaps then our world will become a little warmer and better :)

This is the kind of wheat you need. 🙂

Ingredients for wheat kutya:

• Wheat (whole grains) - 1 glass;
• Water - 2-3 glasses;
• Raisins - 50-100 g;
• Poppy - 2-3 tablespoons;
• Honey - 2-3 tablespoons;
• Walnuts.

The amount of raisins, honey, nuts and poppy seeds can be varied to taste.

How to cook wheat kutya:

It is better to cook kutya in advance: since wheat is cooked for a long time, in the evening of January 5, you can pour water over the grains overnight. And in the morning we put the wheat to boil in the same water, on a small flame, until the grains absorb all the water and become soft. If the water is absorbed, and the wheat is still hard, add a little water. You need to cook under a lid, preferably in a bowl with thick walls, like a cast-iron cauldron.

To make the kutia very tasty, you need to prepare poppy seeds, raisins and nuts, and now I will tell you how :)

We boil the poppy seeds with boiling water, as for the poppy filling. After 5-7 minutes, carefully drain the water (or filter through 2-3 layers of gauze put in a colander. And knead the poppy seeds in a mortar - poppy milk is released. If you prepare poppy seeds for baking in this way, it turns out especially delicious!

We also steam the raisins with boiling water for a few minutes to soften them. I do this: pour boiling water over the raisins, drain the first water and steam it clean. Then you can drink delicious raisin water, by the way, it is good for the heart :)

And the nuts will be much tastier if fried in a dry frying pan. Peel the walnuts and dry them, stirring for a couple of minutes. You will like roasted nuts much more than raw ones - sweet, crunchy!

All ingredients are ready! Add poppy seeds, raisins, honey to the wheat porridge, you can have a little raisin water, and the nuts, so that they do not get wet, but remain crispy, can be put on the table in a vase, and let everyone take it to their liking.

Christmas carousel is ready! And next time I'll tell you how to cook uzvar - dried fruit compote, the second main course for Christmas. 🙂

Here is the prettiest Christmas song. Several years ago radio "Melodia" broadcast a Christmas concert performed by the radio station's collective. How great they sing! it best performancethat I heard. 🙂

Merry Christmas to you!

It's time to talk about preparing one of the traditional Christmas Eve dishes. It is with him that the Orthodox begin their meal on Christmas Eve and end it with him, remembering the dead and exchanging wishes. Kutya Rozhdestvenskaya, from whatever it is prepared (wheat, rice, pearl barley, lentils), should be lean dish, since fasting lasts until the very holiday.

The process of its preparation is simple, but there are many nuances that you need to know and remember - the presented recipe will tell about this. After all, the correct and rich taste of a ritual dish is considered a guarantee of the well-being and high income of the family.

Each hostess, thinking over the menu for Christmas Eve, meticulously selects her own best recipes... And although there are a lot of options for cooking Christmas kutya, any of them are based on grain and honey, symbolizing eternal life and health.

Optionally, add nuts, poppy seeds, dried fruits, raisins or even marmalade and frozen berries to them. The dish turns out to be sweet and high-calorie, but tradition is tradition, and no matter how you follow your figure, you simply have to try at least a spoon!

Ritual kutia "Rich"

Ingredients

• Wheat (grains) - 1 glass + -
• - 2.5 cups + -
• - 3 tbsp. l. + -
• - 4 tbsp. l. + -
• Poppy - 100 g + -
• Walnuts (shelled) - 100 g + -
• Raisins (pitted) - 100 g + -
• Dried fruits (plums, apricots, pears and apples) - 150 g + -

Step-by-step preparation of Christmas kutya

Kutya made from whole wheat grains turns out to be especially aromatic, crumbly and healthy.

The first step is to prepare the wheat.

• We sort out the grains, separating the bad from the good. To do this, pour them into a shallow bowl and select low-quality grains from there one by one.
• We carefully wash the sorted wheat, fill it with water and leave it for at least 12 hours.

Since kutya is traditionally prepared for the evening of Christmas Eve, you can soak the grains overnight.

• Until the morning, the wheat will swell and become not so hard, which will reduce the cooking time by about half. FROM
• pour unabsorbed water from the dishes with grain, transfer it to a deep thick-walled pan and fill with fresh water, observing the proportion - 1: 2.5.

We put the saucepan on the fire and quickly bring to a boil, after which we reduce the fire as much as possible and cook the wheat for another two hours until it is completely cooked.

* Advice from the Cook
The ideal utensil for cooking wheat is a cast-iron cauldron, it will turn out crumbly in it and will definitely not burn.

How and how long to cook barley (pearl barley) in water

In old times pearl barley served to the royal table... In men, it is associated with a tasteless army mess. We offer an algorithm on how to cook barley in order to preserve it beneficial features and make the porridge crumbly.

Let's start preparing the Uzvar

• We wash the dried fruits, put them in a saucepan and fill them with water so that it completely covers the fruits.
• Bring water to a boil over high heat and cook for another 20 minutes over low heat.
• A couple of minutes before turning off, add 2 tablespoons of sugar.

* Advice from the Cook
To make the taste of the uzvar more intense and bright, you need to let it brew for 4 hours. It is necessary to take this into account and start "brewing" dried fruits in the morning of January 6th.

• After insisting, separate the uzvar from the dried fruit, filtering it through a sieve.
• Cut the dried fruits into small pieces and put them aside, we will return to them a little later.
• We choose seedless raisins for kutya. Separate the tails from the raisins, rinse with cold water and fill with boiling water. After half an hour, drain the water and squeeze the berry with your hands. Thanks to steaming, the raisins swell and become soft and juicy.
• We steam the poppy with boiling water and leave to cool for about half an hour. We drain the water, add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the poppy seeds and pass it through a meat grinder. If you do not want to bother with a meat grinder, you can grind the poppy with a blender.

We extract the walnuts from the shell and chop the kernels

This can be done with a blender, only you need to make sure that the nuts do not turn into crumbs. If there is no blender, then you can grind the nuts manually. To do this, we transfer them to a plastic bag, but do not tie it, as it is necessary for the air to come out freely in the process.

Then several times we pass through the bag with a rolling pin until the nuts are crushed into pieces of the required size.

It's time to combine the prepared ingredients

We need a large, deep container. We spread in it already cooled wheat, raisins, poppy seeds, nuts and pieces of dried fruit. Fill with uzvar and add honey. Mix everything thoroughly.

* Advice from the Cook
If you want the kutia to turn out more liquid or sweeter, feel free to add more uzvar or honey to your taste.

When calculating the volume of Christmas porridge that you plan to cook, do not forget that it cannot be stored for a long time, because honey, combining with other ingredients, can ferment after a while.

Serve kutia "Rich" to the table in a large a beautiful dish... Traditionally it is decorated with fruits such as mandarin slices, berries - raspberries and cranberries, or marmalade. Or you can spread the kutya on the bowls and decorate it in portions for each guest.

Both types of serve are good in their own way. But if you want your Christmas kutia to make a special impression, then it is better to serve it in a wide and deep dish. And before placing the dish on the table, place a star formed from boiled rice on top. She will personify the Star of Bethlehem - a symbol of the Nativity of Christ. And the treat served so in an original way, will definitely bring good luck to your family and will be remembered for a long time!

Good afternoon friends. In our culture, holidays are closely related to food preparation. There are even such dishes that are associated specifically with a certain event. For example, Olivier; it is customary to cook this salad on NG. Eggs and Easter cake - for Easter. Or kutia. A dish for the Christmas holidays. How to cook kutya for Christmas? Which recipe is considered traditional and what are the secrets more modern options? And in general, let's talk not only about how right, but also from what to cook kutya. Let's touch on the topic of other traditions and customs that are associated with this dish.

And that's where we'll start: history! Then I will talk about a variety of recipes... And you can supplement my story with your secrets for cooking this porridge.

We can safely say that, despite the fact that cereal cereals with pieces of fruit are part traditions Slavic culture, but the kutya itself came to our people from an older civilization with many customs. It was Greece that awarded us the custom of preparing this dish for a religious celebration.

True, in those distant times they had not yet heard about Christ. And the kutya itself was prepared for a number of pagan religious holidays, as well as public and family ones. Among them were not only bright ones, dedicated to birth, but also death. As if everything that concerns a person's life, from beginning to end, is contained in the symbolism of the ingredients of this dish.

So why cook kutya? If the grain symbolizes life, then additional ingredients like poppy seeds or nuts represent wealth and generosity. Sweet foods such as honey and fruits talk about sweet lifefull of pleasure. This is what they mean when they wear kutya for christmas home. She is a wish of all the best, which for many people personifies happiness. And the words that are spoken at the same time seem to program that life will become surprisingly good!

I will give examples of decorating kutia.

Varieties of traditional treats

Before before Christmas start brewing this sweet porridge, it is worth deciding what kind of kutya you are going to cook. Which cereal you choose, what will be the quality additional ingredients... And you also need to decide on the consistency.

Did you know that the name of the kutya and its purpose depend on the consistency of the porridge? To be honest, this was also a discovery for me. Therefore, now I will name all sorts of variations of this dish, and then together we will figure out how it looks in practice.

Kutia happens:

• Poor;
• Generous;
• Of different types cereals;
• The decoration of the porridge and its presentation are also important;
• Kolivo;
• Juicy.

And let's talk a little about each type.

Poor... It is prepared before Christmas. So it is believed that fasting lasts until the holiday itself, then kutia cooked the day before should contain neither milk nor butter. This porridge is also called hungry or watery.

Generous or rich kutia was cooked before the new year. Its significance was to give the house and its residents abundance. In the composition of such a dish there was both butter and cream, even a little alcohol was allowed.

Of different kinds cereals... This dish is not limited to any kind of grain or additives. Most often porridge is cooked from pearl barley... But both rice and barley are acceptable. Depends on the preferences of the hostess and on what particular holiday the kutia is brewed.

The decoration of the porridge and its serving also matter.. How to decorate the dish depends mainly on when, before what event it is prepared. For example, before Christmas, the porridge will be decorated with minimal set products: honey or uzvar. After - any sweets, up to sweets, fruits and alcohol tinctures on fruit. The presentation can be unusual too. For example, you can bake kutya in a pumpkin soaked in honey.

Kolivo. Recipe cooking colivo is simple. The porridge should be dry and as crumbly as possible.

Sochivo... Unlike kolivo, oozy, on the contrary, should be juicy, with the addition of liquid honey or milk, honey nourishment, uzvar, jam. The porridge is semi-liquid.

The formula for delicious kutya

Here is a couple traditional recipes for the holidays.

Recipe 1. From wheat

To porridge from wheat turned out delicious, the grains are pre-soaked. Or they can be boiled in a little water.

Ingredients:

• Wheat - 1 tbsp.;
• Raisins - a small bag;
• Nuts - 10-15 pcs.;
• Honey - 4 tablespoons

1. Boil the wheat.
2. Pour boiling water over the raisins for 10 minutes.
3. Chop the nuts, chop and lightly fry.
4. If honey is not runny, dilute it lightly with water.
5. Combine all ingredients. Close the lid and leave to brew for 15 minutes.

Recipe 2. From rice

Second option from rice.

Ingredients:

• Rice - 1 tbsp.;
• Milk - 2.5 tbsp.;
• Quince - 2 pcs.;
• Pumpkin - 100g;
• Sugar to taste;
• Oil - 100g.

Friends! Delicious topic it's always hard to finish. I just want to rush to the kitchen to cook the dish. This is exactly what I am going to do now. And you can practice to the right time I liked your dish both in taste and in appearance, both children and adults. Therefore, I will be glad if you share what you have done. You can even send a photo to one of the contact addresses. And I will insert your photo into the article.

And for today we have to say goodbye, unfortunately! Read, write, subscribe to new articles. Invite your friends! I will help you to always be aware of all events.

Traditionally, whole wheat or barley is used as the base for the dish, although other grains can be used as well. 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 time-consuming. First, the cereal is boiled, and then seasoned with poppy milk, sugar syrup or uzvar. Rich kutya Christmas and Epiphany flavored with honey, nuts, candied fruits and other delicious additives... In today's recipe, I will tell you how to cook kutya for Christmas from wheat (oozy) 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.
• cooking water - 3 tbsp.
• salt - 1 chips.
• 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 should be clean, rough. 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 in the store. They are usually sold in sachets, steamed and ready to cook. I washed the wheat and soaked it overnight in cold water - in the process of swelling, the grain will become softer, which will shorten the cooking process several times.

Previously, kutya was cooked mainly in a cauldron, where it languished 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 heavy-bottomed saucepan, stewpan or ladle with non-stick coating... 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). Brought to a boil over high heat and removed all the foam that had formed abundantly on the surface.

Then I added a small pinch of salt, mixed and set to simmer on low heat. I cooked without a lid, 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, it will not boil down. Only at the very end, when there is practically no liquid left in the pan, you can stir a couple of times so that the porridge does not burn. The grains should turn out to be soft outside and inside, with a slight whitish tint, but at the same time remain crumbly, not boiled. If necessary, you can add water, but only hot (!), Otherwise the grain will be solid inside. If a little liquid remains after cooking, you do not need to drain it, wrap the pan tightly so that the wheat steamed a little more.

Separately, I steamed poppy seeds and raisins - I 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 must be squeezed out of excess liquid. And the poppy should be grated with sugar in a mortar or killed 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 little secret... I boiled the "milk" for 2-3 minutes (in the microwave or on the stove), so that the poppy evaporated even more and better revealed its taste. Then I diluted honey in a warm, but not too hot liquid. Gradually added uzvar, that is, dried fruit compote (can be replaced boiled water), brought to the desired degree of sweetness. By the way, not all honey is suitable for kutya. It is best to use floral, linden honey or herbs, but buckwheat will have to be abandoned, since it greatly interrupts the taste of other products.

Fill with kutya 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 oozing is too thick, you can add more uzvar or cold boiled water. Then, just before serving, it remains to add the steamed raisins and nuts (do not add the raisins in advance, it may become sour and fermented from honey). That's all! Delicious kutia ready for Christmas!

On a note

Cook too a large pot kutya is not worth it. Try to calculate the volume you need, since it is strictly forbidden to throw it away! As a last resort, you can feed the remaining portion to livestock or poultry.