Christmas Eve Kutia or kutia wigilija is always one of the 12 dishes on the table as Polish families gather on December 24th. It’s a sweet dish, made with wheat berries, poppy seeds, dried fruit, and nuts. These are the predominant flavors. There are a few more that add subtlety to the composition.
The texture is a combination of chewy and crunchy. I love to serve it with a little sweet cream.
The actual assembly of kutia is quick and easy, but this is a dish that you’ll need to begin preparing 2 days before you eat it. In most cases, that means you’ll need to begin the preparation on the evening of December 22nd.
The wheat berries need to be soaked in water overnight. The next day, you’ll cook the wheat. That can take anywhere between 1 and 3 hours. While the wheat is cooking, you’ll prepare the poppy seeds. They need to be simmered and soaked and ground with cream.
The poppy seed prep is a struggle for me. It always seems difficult and messy to grind the poppy seeds. It makes no difference if I’m using a food processor, mortar and pestle, or an immersion blender. Next time, I will simply substitute canned poppy seed filling and reduce the honey and sugar by half. I know Polish cooking, especially for holidays is supposed to involve sacrifice, pain, and suffering, but I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine. 😉
Raisins are always used in kutia. I’ve used two varieties, as well as dates and dried apricots. You should feel free to add your personal favorites such as dried cherries or dried figs to the raisins. As for the nuts, hazelnuts are a common choice, as are almonds and walnuts. The nuts are blanched and toasted. You can check out my quick, little TikTok video on how to blanch hazelnuts here. You don’t need to TikTok account to watch the video.
Another way to change this up is to use cooked barley rather than wheat. I’ll caution you. Some think that using barley makes the recipe gluten-free. That’s not the case. Barley is lower in gluten than wheat, but it is not without gluten, so it’s not safe for those with celiac. You could also make this with pasta. Bow tie pasta would be festive.
I hope you’ll enjoy kutia as much as I do.
Smacznego!
Lois
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Christmas Eve Kutia
Description
Christmas Eve Kutia is a chewy and crunchy, sweet dish made with wheat, poppy seeds, dried fruit, and nuts.
Ingredients
- 1 cup wheat berries (200 g)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup poppy seeds (100 g)
- 1/2 cup half and half (100 ml)
- 1/3 cup raisins
- 1/3 cup jumbo crimson raisins
- 1/3 cup chopped dates
- 1/3 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup blanched hazelnuts, toasted
- 1/2 cup blanched almonds, toasted
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- zest of one orange
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
Soak wheat berries in water (enough to cover with 2 inches of water) overnight. Drain. Add the wheat berries to a saucepan with 4 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 to 3 hours until wheat is tender.
While the wheat is cooking, prepare the poppy seeds. Rinse them in a fine-mesh strainer. Add poppy seeds to a saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a simmer, remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes. Repeat the process of heating to a simmer, remove from heat, and cover for 3o minutes. Strain the poppy seeds. Add half and half to the poppy seeds and grind with a food processor, immersion blender, or mortar and pestle.
Pour boiling water over the dried fruits, let sit for 30 minutes. Strain fruit. Dice into 1/4 inch (6 mm) pieces. Chop hazelnuts and almonds into 1/4 inch (6 mm) pieces.
Combine the cooled wheat, processed poppy seeds with cream, chopped fruits, nuts, honey, powdered sugar, orange zest, and almond extract. Chill for several hours or overnight. Garnish with dried fruit and/or nuts.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
Władysław Łoś
For grind poppy seeds a meat grinder is a proper tool.