Housewives traditionally prepare generous kutya. Unlike the lean rich kutya, which we prepared on Holy Evening, you can add whatever the hostess wants to the generous one - butter, milk, cream.

Our ancestors started cooking kutya on the morning of January 13th. Traditionally, generous kutya is made from wheat, honey and poppy seeds. Each of these ingredients has a symbolic meaning: grain is resurrected life, honey is a sweet life and a symbol of health, and poppy is prosperity. And the most popular was the recipe for porridge with lard. However, today not every housewife wants to add this product to porridge. We have prepared for you a variety of recipes for generous kutya - for every taste.

GENEROUS KUTIA WITH COGNAC

Ingredients

400 g wheat

100 g nuts

100 g dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, prunes)

1 tbsp cognac

50 g dried apples and pears (for compote)

First we prepare compote. We will stir honey in it. To do this, pour 50 grams of dried apples and pears with 100 milliliters of water and bring to a boil. Compote must be infused for at least two hours.

Next, cook the wheat until cooked through for about two hours. Fill the grain with water in a ratio of 1: 3. Poppy fill with boiling water, and then rub. Cut nuts and dried fruits into small pieces. Combine wheat with dried fruits, nuts and poppy seeds. Stir honey in a glass of compote and add it to kutya. Please note that kutya should not be liquid - you may not need all the compote. At the very end, pour in a spoonful of cognac.

Photo: social networks

GENEROUS KUTIA WITH MILK

Ingredients

400 g wheat

750 g milk

200 g dried fruits

Wheat grains must be soaked in cold water for 3-4 hours. After the grain has completely absorbed the water, fill it with milk and cook until tender. Add honey, poppy seeds and your favorite dried fruits to the finished porridge. Such porridge turns out to be very soft and tender due to cooking in milk.

Photo: social networks

GENEROUS KUTIA WITH CHOCOLATE

Ingredients

Rice - 400 g

Chocolate (dark or milk) - 100 g

Dried fruits - 100 g

Rice must be taken friable and cook it until cooked for about 30 minutes. Add grated chocolate, honey, dried fruits and poppy seeds to the finished porridge. Poppy pre-fill with boiling water and grind.

Photo: social networks

KUTIA WITH CREAM

Ingredients:

Pearl barley - 200 g

Walnuts - 100 g

Raisins - 100 g

Honey - 2 tablespoons

Dried apricots - 100 g

Cream - 70 g

Barley should be filled with water in a ratio of 1: 2. When the porridge is ready, pour the cream into it and boil for another 2 minutes until the grain absorbs it. It must be cooked over medium heat for about an hour. Poppy pour boiling water, and then knead in a mortar. Walnuts and dried apricots also need to be chopped. After that, mix all the ingredients, and do not forget to add honey.

Photo: Tochka.net

Kutya for the Old New Year

Old New Year traditionally celebrated at night from 13 to 14 January. According to the old Russian Julian calendar, January 14 was the day Basil the Great. On Vasilyev's day, the future sowing and harvest were "coaxed". Then it was an agricultural holiday, and not a magical one, when wishes come true. Usually on this January day, peasant children scattered grains of wheat around the house, saying: "Ugly, God, a good harvest of bread!" And the mistress, after her children, carefully collected the grain from the floor and hid it in a secret place and kept it there until sowing. For the Old New Year, a special ritual porridge was traditionally prepared - kutya. Kutya should be generous and rich, it could be boiled with the addition of dairy products and be sure to season with animal fat. In addition, poppy seeds and raisins were traditionally put in it.

The ceremony of cooking kutya was sacred, and it was being prepared late at night from January 13 to 14. The oldest woman in the house at exactly midnight brought cereals from the barn, and the eldest of the men brought water from the well. Cereals and water were left to stand on the table until the stove was heated, and no one touched them, so as not to scare away good spirits. The whole family sat down at the table, and the older woman, stirring the porridge, pronounced special sentences at the same time so that the evil spirits would not spoil the ritual porridge: “They sowed, grew buckwheat all summer; buckwheat porridge was born and large, and blush. There will be a glorious porridge for the joy of everyone " . After that, the household members got up from the table, and the hostess put the porridge into the oven with a bow. Ready porridge was taken out of the oven and carefully examined.
They guessed on the kutya:

If the porridge crawled out of the pot - be in trouble;

If the pot with kutya burst - unfortunately;

If the kutya turned out to be ruddy and boiled - this is fortunately and well-being in the family;

If the kutya is small and pale - to grief and illness.

If the pot with ready-made porridge turned out to be full, the porridge was rich, then a happy year was expected, and the porridge was eaten in the morning. If the porridge came out or the pot cracked, then something bad was expected, and the porridge was thrown into the river.

In the old days, kutya was prepared from buckwheat, wheat, less often from barley. The grains were pounded in a mortar, but they were not crushed, but only the husks were removed from them. Initially, kutya was prepared with honey or full (diluted honey). At a later time, poppy milk (steamed and mashed poppy), raisins, and chopped nuts were added to kutya.

The products from which this dish is prepared have a symbolic meaning:

The grain is a symbol of resurrected life.

Honey is considered a symbol of health and prosperity (literally - sweet life).

It is believed that the richer (cooked with a large number of ingredients) kutya, the better the harvest will be and the higher the prosperity in the family.

RICE KUTIA RECIPE WITH RAISINS, ALMOND, POPPY AND HONEY

NECESSARY:

1 st. rice
100 g almonds
100 g raisins (kishmish)
50 g poppy
100 g honey

HOW TO COOK:

1. Rice for kutya should be prepared especially: pour a glass of rice with one and a half glasses of boiling water, cover the pan tightly with a lid, cook the rice for 3 minutes over high heat, 6 on medium, and again 3 on low.

2. After you remove the rice from the heat, do not open the lid for another 15 minutes, allowing the rice to brew for a couple.

3. While the rice is cooling, scald the almond kernels, peel and chop finely. Pour boiling water over raisins (pitted!) Drain after 5 minutes.

4. Poppy steam. To do this, add a little boiling water to the cup where the poppy lies and cover with a saucer. After the poppy has completely cooled (and swelled), it needs to be ground. You can do it in a mortar and pestle, you can do it in a coffee grinder.

5. Mix grated poppy seeds, raisins, nuts with cooked rice, season with liquid honey. If your honey is too thick, just warm it up in a steam bath.
Mix everything well.

We have published previously).

Traditions of cooking Rich kutya

Rich kutya (tasty, satisfying) is a good harvest and high prosperity for the whole year. That is why all Ukrainian housewives try to make it rich and varied, and each family has its own signature recipe. Such rich kutya, made with milk, cream, butter, was eaten on Christmas Eve, at Epiphany, at the wake. But ritual significance still has to a greater extent exactly.

Traditionally, kutia is made from wheat, but earlier, according to tradition, it was also made from barley and even rye. Nowadays, a modern analogue of kutya, made from rice, is becoming very popular. Grains of cereals need to be crushed in a mortar in order to tear off the husk without damaging the integrity of the grain. Then the husk is separated by sifting the grains and washing. Well, then porridge is cooked from pure grains.

The next step in the preparation of kutya was the addition of honey or saty (honey diluted with water). Later, they began to add poppy milk, made from grated steamed poppy seeds. It turns out very tasty kutya with the addition of nuts, raisins, dried fruits. Pay also attention to the recently published by us for the ceremony.

Interestingly, for our ancestors, the ingredients of Rich Kutia were not just a tasty addition. Each product had a special meaning: grain is a symbol of resurrected life; honey represents health and well-being (sweet life); poppy symbolizes prosperity in the family.

All ingredients for kutya are prepared separately: crumbly porridge is boiled from cereals, raisins and poppy seeds are steamed, nuts are crushed. Combine ready-made products, which are heated for 10-15 minutes. Kutia should turn out to be watery - it is so juicier, according to an old recipe, try boiling it with honey. Below we present classic recipe Generous kutya with poppy seeds, which must be prepared according to these recommendations.

Wheat kutia with poppy seeds and nuts

Kutya from wheat with poppy seeds and nuts recipe

What we need:

1 cup wheat
100 g poppy
100 g shelled walnuts
2-3 tbsp. spoons of honey
sugar to taste

Kutya from wheat with poppy seeds and nuts: how to cook

1. Go through the joker, rinse and boil in water until tender.
2. Rub the poppy thoroughly until milk is formed.
3. Add honey and mix well with porridge.
4. The last chord is a handful of chopped walnuts.

Other kutya recipes

Kutya wheat

What we need:

1.5 cups wheat
200 g honey

Kutya wheat: how to cook

1. Pour the peeled wheat grains with cool water for 2-3 hours, then boil them until tender, then drain them in a colander.
2. Dilute honey with hot water, pour boiled wheat over it, bring to a boil and cool.

Wheat kutya with jam

What we need:

400 g wheat or 250 g rice
1 cup berries (you can use fruit jam instead)

Kutya from wheat with jam: how to cook

1. Sort the wheat, rinse and boil. Throw the finished grain in a colander, cool and add berries / fruits.
2. If the Rich Kutia is thick for a Generous Evening, dilute it with sweet water or syrup. Same recipe for rice.

Wheat kutia with poppy seeds

What we need:

400 g wheat
1 glass of poppy
1/2 cup sugar or honey
salt

Kutya from wheat with poppy seeds: how to cook

1. Carefully sort and clean the wheat from the tares. Pour it into boiling water and bring to a boil. Boil until cooked, then fold on a sieve and irrigate with cold water. Then put back in the pot, cover with water and heat. As soon as the water boils, close the lid and put in the oven to melt the cereal.
2. Take care of the poppy: rinse it and pour boiling water over it. Drain the boiling water and again pour cold water over the poppy seeds. Pound in a mortar until milk is formed. Add honey or sugar, if desired - a pinch of salt, mix with wheat. Fans of rich liquid kutya will have to add a little water, it is better to take the one in which kutya was cooked.

Wheat kutya with honey, raisins and nuts

What we need:

200 g wheat
100 g honey
100 g seedless raisins
50 g shelled walnuts

Wheat kutya with honey, raisins and nuts: how to cook

1. Traditionally, we sort out the wheat and wash it. Boil together with washed raisins, put on a sieve.
2. Pour honey, sprinkle with crushed nuts, mix well, put on a dish.

Kutia from barley groats with poppy seeds

What we need:

2 cups barley groats
1 st. milk
3 liters of water
2-3 tbsp honey
0.5-1 st. poppy
2 tbsp any jam

Rich barley groats with poppy seeds

1. Rinse the cereal and cook it over low heat. Make sure to remove the foam in time.
2. The secretion of mucus from the cereal means that it is time to drain the excess water, after which the porridge should be transferred to another saucepan and boiled with milk until tender. Stir all the time to avoid burning.
3. Poppy will have to be cooked separately, traditionally pouring boiling water over it and insisting for 10-15 minutes, after which the water is drained. Steam the poppy and grind it in a mortar with the addition of boiling water in the proportion of 1 tsp. water for 1 tbsp. poppy.
4. Ready ingredients: mix poppy seeds, raisins and cereals, add honey and, stirring constantly, heat over low heat for another 5-7 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add jam to the porridge.

Cooking Rich kutya is not at all difficult. It is good to eat it with family, with friends, in the kitchen, in the evening, with tea or compote. Bon appetit!

In the Orthodox faith, kutya, or kolivo, symbolizes eternal life and resurrection. Therefore, it is customary to cook sweet rice porridge for a wake. It is placed in a common deep plate and placed in the middle of the table. Each guest scoops one spoonful of kutya from the plate and sends it immediately into the mouth, remembering the deceased.

Traditions of cooking kutya

There is no single traditional recipe for kutya. In families, the recipe for this dish is passed down from generation to generation, and everyone considers their version to be the most correct. Despite this, all recipes use similar principles and similar ingredients.

The taste of kutya varies depending on the additives and dressings of the funeral porridge. It can be prepared on the basis of pearl barley, millet and rice, and flavored with sugar, honey or sweet syrup. A pleasant combination of neutral cereals and sweet dressing give the funeral dish a specific taste and unique aroma.

Kutya recipe for a wake

Kutya is supposed to be served for a commemoration on the 9th, 40th day, for six months and for a year. She also opens a memorial meal and on special dates.

Ingredients:

• 0.5 cup long grain rice
• 2 glasses of water
• 100 g white raisins
• 50 g candied fruits
• 1 tbsp honey

Put the raisins on a plate, remove the tails. Rinse and leave in water for 20-30 minutes. Then rinse and dry again. So that honey is well absorbed into rice and gives the desired sweetness to kutya, melt it in a water bath. Chop the candy. Since the fruits added to kutya symbolize the heavenly fruits bestowed on humanity by the Almighty, not only raisins, but also dried apricots, prunes, cut into pieces, and poppy seeds can be put in kutya.

Before cooking rice, soak it in water for at least 2 hours to remove excess starch and gluten. Drain the water. Immerse the rice in fresh cold water and bring to a boil over the fire. Bring to a boil and after 2 minutes reduce heat to low. Rice should not be stirred with a spoon. On a slow fire, the porridge will not burn, but will slowly gurgle, absorbing water. When the rice is completely boiled and there is no water left in the pan, pour honey into it and add raisins with dried fruits and other ingredients as desired. Stir and let stand for another 2 minutes.

Transfer the hot kutya to a deep bowl, smooth the surface and garnish with raisins. Cover with a saucer and leave to cool slowly. Kutya should be consecrated before serving on the memorial table, it is better to do this in advance by visiting the church during the morning service.

Products for kutya are peeled grains: wheat, barley, rice, and sweet additives: earlier to eat - honey with water, and today candied fruits, nuts, raisins and honey.

The dish has pagan roots. Funeral kutya was placed on the table as a treat for the dead to honor their ancestors. It was believed that this way you can attract success and happiness to the house for the whole year. But despite the non-pagan roots, kutia has taken root in the Orthodox culinary tradition and is blessed in the church, symbolizing the unity of the living and the dead in common immortality.

Customs and traditions associated with kutya

The name of the dish is of Greek origin: in Byzantium, this word was called a funeral treat of boiled wheat. Together with other Christian traditions, the custom of preparing kutya came to the Slavs, where it took root for many centuries.

Sweet porridge with honey and nuts symbolizes prosperity, abundance, fertility, health and well-being, so it was put on the table on major holidays. It was believed that the richer the dish turned out (more satisfying and with a large number of additives), the more successful the year would be. It is with kutya that it is customary to begin the Christmas meal and end with it too. According to the established tradition, all family members and, in addition to them, pets and livestock should taste the dish - this will protect them from diseases and give them good health.

Lenten kutya is prepared on Christmas Eve, because fasting is still going on at this time. For her, you can not use any products of animal origin - no butter, no milk, no cream. On Christmas, it is customary to treat relatives living separately, friends, and neighbors with their kutya. The more people try it, the more benefits it promises in the future. In a separate bowl, kutya is left for the dead ancestors, who, according to beliefs, protect the house.
Kutya is brought to the temple to consecrate it, but if this is not possible, you can sprinkle the dish with holy water yourself.

Types of kutya: sweet and savory, kolivo and juicy, lean and “rich”

Despite the common name, kutya is not one, but several dishes with a common basis. On Christmas Eve, kutya is put on the table with an abundance of sweet additives, honey, nuts, and raisins. Before Christmas, completing the fast, she looks more like a delicacy than a memorial dish. On Epiphany, the number of ingredients is traditionally less, so it is not so sweet.
On significant holidays that do not fall on fasting, they prepare a generous kutya, in which they put a large amount of heavy cream, butter, milk and other additives.

In addition to the composition, different kutya and different consistency. Steep kutya - kolivo, outwardly resembles friable sweet porridge. The semi-liquid dish is called sochivo, it is customary to eat it with spoons. This type of kutya got its name due to the fact that one of its components is "juice" or lean milk obtained from nuts, poppy or hemp.

Composition of kutya: ingredients required and optional

The basis

The basis of the dish is boiled whole grains of wheat, barley, pearl barley, oats, rice, buckwheat and others. To separate all the excess, the grits are first crushed in a mortar, adding a little water there. After the grain is soaked and then boiled. The base of the kutya should be soft, so it is better to overexpose it on the stove than to remove it ahead of time.

Wheat is the traditional basis of kutya, but lately rice has become increasingly popular. Yes, this is a noticeable departure from tradition, but it goes well with honey, raisins and nuts. The rice dish is usually served at the wake, but it is quite possible to prepare it for Christmas. If rice is boiled in milk, kutya will no longer be lean, and it cannot be served on Christmas Eve, but during other holidays it will become a table decoration.

Refueling

The second component of classic kutya is dressing. For a lean dish, milk from nuts, poppy seeds, almonds is used, and for a modest one - cream, butter, milk.

Nut or poppy milk is prepared by grinding the base in a mortar, grinding in a meat grinder or blender until a white liquid appears. This will be juicy, it will replace milk in kutia. In addition to juicy, almost every recipe contains honey or syt. In some kutya recipes, dried fruit compote, fruit drink or sugar syrup is used as a dressing.

Other Ingredients

Nuts, raisins, dried fruits, candied fruits, steamed poppy seeds, marmalade, spices, jam are put in kutya. Dried fruits are pre-soaked. Fresh fruits are rarely used, because during long-term storage they can ferment in the porridge, ruining it. If you already include fruits, then it is better just before eating, so that they retain their taste and texture.

Kutya recipes

Funeral kutia

This dish is an essential attribute of commemoration or holidays, where it is customary to honor the dead ancestors.

Ingredients:

• a glass of rice;
• 2 glasses of water;
• salt;
• sugar;
• 50 grams of raisins;
• 2 tablespoons of honey;
• 50 grams of candied fruits or marmalade sweets.

Rinse the rice, then boil it into a crumbly, not sticky porridge. Add sugar, salt and honey. Soak raisins in hot water for 10 minutes to soften, then pat dry. Now raisins and rice can be combined. Before serving the finished kutia on the table, it is laid out on a plate in a slide, decorating with marmalade or candied fruit.

Christmas kutia

They cook it at Christmas time, take it to church for consecration and treat relatives and close people before Christmas. Christmas kutya symbolizes fertility, wealth and prosperity throughout the year.

Ingredients:

• sweets to taste (preferably marmalade);
• 100 grams of raisins;
• a glass of pre-peeled wheat;
• berry compote (you can cook it from dried fruits);
• 2 tablespoons of honey;
• 50 grams of candied fruits;
• nuts for decoration.

If there is no wheat, then rice is also suitable for kutya. Pour the cereal with cool water, boil until tender. Pour the compote into the porridge and mix the mass well: it should turn out semi-liquid, like a traditional dish that was put on the table. The consistency of the dish depends on the amount of compote: if someone wants a cool kutya, then quite a bit is enough - for taste, if liquid is required, one or two glasses are poured. Lastly, put sweets, honey, raisins, candied fruits in kutya and garnish with nuts.

rich kutia

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of wheat groats;
• ½ cup sugar;
• ½ cup chopped dried apricots;
• ½ cup poppy;
• ½ cup chopped prunes;
• raisins, nuts;
• cognac to taste;
• honey to taste.

First, boil the grains, and soak the poppy seeds in hot water for a few minutes. Then strain and rub the poppy with granulated sugar. In another bowl, soak prunes, raisins and dried apricots for 20 minutes (also in hot water). Mix chopped dried fruits with nuts, poppy seeds and wheat. At the very end, add some honey and any brandy for taste.

The subtleties of cooking, storing and serving kutya

Grains, cereals are best boiled in a bowl with a thick bottom. In thin-walled cereals, it can burn and spoil the taste of the dish.

After connecting all the components of the kutya, heat for another 10 minutes. Ideally - in a clay pot in the oven, but you can also in a saucepan on the stove, and in a slow cooker.
Thick kutya is diluted with a small amount of compote, grain water or warm water, then it will acquire the desired consistency and not lose its taste.

If you need to prepare a dish for the future for several days in advance, raisins are added before serving, since when stored in kutya, it will quickly lose its taste. Honey and fresh fruits can ferment, they are also not recommended to be put into porridge ahead of time.