Kutya

How I could have gotten away with not making kutya all these years is a mystery. I guess mom and Auntie Mary always made it so I didn't have to.  Add to that the fact that as a kid I hated the stuff and I guess it's not really that hard to believe that I hadn't made it before.

To get started I looked in the freezer for the wheat kernels, but all I could find was spelt and kamut. Yikes. I had a moment of panic before sending Paul in search of what is now trendily referred to as "wheat berries." 

When it was plain old "wheat", it was about a buck a pound and not that easy to find, because who wants to eat peasant food? With the current whole-food craze, wheat berries have been reinvented as a desirable food and the price has quintupled. The health craze aspect combined with a recent influx of Russians to our neighbourhood, made finding wheat for kutya a bit of an adventure for Paul. Eventually the wheat berries were located at "A Taste of Ukraine" in Port Moody, thanks to my mom's dogged determination.

Kutya is a ritual Ukrainian dish – the first of 12 traditional dishes served on Christmas Eve. Everyone is supposed to have some to ensure good luck for the coming year.

Our friends Branka & Zlatan, from former Yugoslavia, tells me a similar dish exists in their culture too.  Zlatan says that it is served to guests as they arrive as a sort of appetizer. Since kutya is quite filling, eating it earlier in the evening makes a lot of sense and that's when I served it this year.

Smachnoho!

Kutya
2 cups wheat kernels
Water to cover
Salt to taste
1 cup honey
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
 
(Optional: Dry wheat in 250º oven for 1 hour; stir occasionally.)

Wash and soak wheat overnight, in water to soften.
 
The next day, drain and cover with fresh water. Simmer, covered, for 4-6 hours. Stir occasionally until tender and beginning to burst.

*Make sure the wheat always has enough water to simmer and doesn't get dry and scald the bottom. You can always drain excess water later.
 
Some people like kutya more watery, others don't. Your preference determines how much water to add for the finished product. That means you have to decide at this point what to do:

• add water if it seems like there isn't enough
• drain water if there's too much
• drain all the water, rinse the wheat and then add fresh water in if you don't like the gluten-y kutya

When kernels are done, stir in honey.
 
Scald 1/2 cup of poppy seeds in water, cover and let sit for 15 minutes, then drain as much water as you can. Grind in a blender, chopper, or coffee or nut grinder. My baba used to grind them with mortar and pestle. Grinding the poppy seeds is really important. Don't skip this step.
 
Add ground poppy seeds and walnuts to the wheat and honey mixture.

Taste it. If you need to, add water and honey, as you like. 

Serve warm or cold. It’s freezer-friendly and keeps in the refrigerator for
weeks. It's great for breakfast. Serves 8-20, depending on portion size.

I wanted to show what the poppy seed looks like when you grind it, after soaking it in scalding water.

I hope this shows that the unground poppy seeds at the bottom of the picture are significantly larger than the ground poppy seed at the top.  It also goes a little milky - which is normal.