Kutia is a Greek word and means "mixture". This is a ritual porridge of Orthodox Christians, the original dish is prepared from whole wheat grains, but wheat is often replaced with rice.
Kutia is prepared for the commemoration of the departed, as well as on the eve of Christmas and Epiphany. It is better to take round-grain rice for cooking porridge, for 3 servings it will take ½ cup. Put in the porridge: dried apricots, raisins, poppy seeds, almonds, walnuts, they are also taken in half a glass. You can sweeten the kutya with sugar, honey, fructose.
You can put dried cherries and cherries, sun-dried apples soaked in water sweetened with honey, then use it to make cereals.
First you need hot water - dried fruits are soaked in it. Clean, washed raisins and dried apricots are steamed in one bowl, poured poppy separately and left for 1-2 hours. Almonds are washed in hot water, then in cold water, peel off the skin. Water is poured from steamed dried fruits into a saucepan, rice is put there - the liquid should be three times the volume of cereal.
Cook rice over low heat with the lid open, stirring continuously. Once the water has evaporated, turn off the stove, close the lid and leave the product to cool. The porridge should be crumbly.
Drain the water from the poppy, grind it in a mortar or with a blender, grind dried apricots and nuts. Honey is melted in a water bath, syrup is prepared from sugar. Syrup (honey) is mixed with grated poppy seeds, all the ingredients are put into rice, the porridge is laid out in portioned plates. Decorated with nuts and raisins.
You can prepare a simple version of kutya. Soak the rice in salted water for half an hour. Pour water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. For 1 cup of rice, take 800 ml of water. Add rice and cook, stirring occasionally. Add sugar to the semi-prepared cereal, to improve the taste, you can put a piece of butter, cover with a lid and bring to readiness.
While porridge is cooking, dried fruits (raisins, dried apricots, dates, prunes), rinse and steam. Drain them, cut and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Chop the nuts, fry them in a dry frying pan. Put nuts and dried fruits in cooked cereals, decorate the dish with candied fruits and candied nuts.
Every ingredient in this dish is symbolic. Krupa means the rebirth of the soul, sweets symbolize heavenly bliss. It is believed that the kutya lit in the church should not be put in the refrigerator and heated up.
Kutia in a multicooker is not inferior to traditional taste, but it is prepared simply and quickly. Prepare food - rinse rice, dried fruit, peel apples. Put them in a multicooker bowl, for 1 glass of rice - 0.5 multi-glasses of raisins and dried apricots, 1 apple, add sugar - 4 tablespoons, a pinch of salt, vanillin to taste, 10 g butter, 2 multi-glasses of water. Put on the "pilaf" mode, add honey to the finished porridge (it should not be heat treated).
To commemorate the dead, a simple kutya is prepared using a minimum of ingredients. A crumbly porridge is cooked from rice, pouring 1 glass of cereal with 3 glasses of water. Rice should not be overcooked, if the cereal is boiled, and not all of the water has evaporated, it is better to drain it and rinse the rice. The washed steamed raisins are put in warm porridge, poured with honey to taste, mixed.
