On Christmas Eve, the strict 40-day fast ends. At the festive table, it is allowed to break the fast and eat fast food again. But the church charter prescribes to start the meal with kutya.
According to tradition, an Orthodox Christmas table must certainly have kutia - a ritual dish made from various types of cereals and whole grains with the addition of honey, nuts, raisins, and poppy seeds. In different places, kutya was called sochiv, sity, eve, koliv, and most often it was prepared for the memorial table.
The ingredients of kutya have a certain symbolic meaning: grain - abundance and eternal life, honey - health and family well-being, nuts and poppy seeds - wealth and fertility. In the old days, there was a belief that the tastier and more satisfying the kutia, the higher the prosperity in the family and the richer the harvest will be.
Any cereals and grains are suitable for the preparation of kutia, including barley, barley, oats, buckwheat, but the tradition provides for wheat as the main component, and today rice is most often used. Wheat and rice kutia have some cooking features, while in relation to the set and amount of products, you can follow the classic recipe, but it is quite possible to determine the composition and proportions to your taste.
For wheat kutia, take 400 g of grain, 100 g of honey, 200 g of poppy seeds, 200 g of shelled walnuts. Sort out the wheat, rinse well, put it in boiling water, bring to a boil, put it on a sieve and pour over with cold water.
Then transfer the cereal to an earthen pot or saucepan, cover with water and boil. Cover the pan with a lid and place in the oven to simmer. Check the grain periodically, and when it becomes soft, remove and cool.
Rinse the poppy with boiling water, rinse with cold water. Pound the grains in a mortar white, mix with honey and wheat. Add finely chopped walnuts last.
To cook rice kutya, you need 400 g of cereals, 200 g of raisins, 100 g of honey and cinnamon. Sort and rinse the rice, cover with cold water, bring to a boil, discard on a sieve and rinse well again. Pour the cereal again with cold water and cook until tender, without stirring, at the end, drain the remaining liquid.
Dilute honey with water in a 1: 2 ratio, add to rice, mix with raisins and cinnamon. When serving, kutya can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or ground nuts.
