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Kutia (Kutya) is a traditional Christmas wheat berry pudding. It is popular in Ukraine and various other parts of Eastern Europe. It’s a very special dish that is served on Christmas eve. We couldn’t post it in time for December 24th, but at least it will be in time for the European Christmas on January 7th :). Don’t forget to pin this for next year!
My husband has been on a mission to make the perfect Kutia recipe. He’s tested several versions over the past few years trying to re-create what he enjoyed in his childhood and we fell in love with this one. It’s sweetened with milk and honey and has a perfect balance of fruit, nuts, and poppyseeds. This recipe requires some overnight prep so you definitely want to read through it before you begin.
Ingredients for Kutia:
1 1/2 cups wheat berries (we used Hard White Winter Wheat Berries)
4 1/2 cups of milk (or water, but milk tastes better)
3/4 cups poppy seeds
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup raisins
2/3 cup dry apricots, chopped
2/3 cup slivered almonds (or chopped walnuts)
1/8 tsp salt
How to Make Wheat Berry Pudding (Kutia):
1. Rinse wheat berries in cold water until water runs clear, then transfer to a bowl and soak overnight in lukewarm water, adding enough water to cover 2-inches above the wheat berries.
2. The following day, drain wheat berries, place them in a medium-sized heavy pot, cover with 4 1/2 cups of milk and bring everything to a boil over high heat. When milk starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover with lid and simmer until wheat berries are very tender, 3 1/2 – 4 hours, depending on the quality of the wheat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add more milk if needed to keep the wheat berries fully submerged (If you simmer over low heat, you won’t have to add anymore milk).
3. While the wheat berries are on the stove, rinse 3/4 cups of poppy seeds thoroughly in a fine mesh sieve, drain well, and transfer to a medium sauce pan and add 3 cups water. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer (Don’t boil). Turn off. Cover with lid and let it sit for 30 min. Return to a simmer (don’t boil). Turn off. Cover and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Drain poppy seeds well through a colander or by keeping lid on and placing several layers of cheese cloth over lid to catch stray poppy seeds. Push the poppy seeds through a food grinder, using the fine grinding plate.
(You can also mill the poppy seeds in batches in a clean coffee grinder). Click HERE for the detail pictures of the poppy-seed making process.
4. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spread 2/3 cups of slivered almonds on a baking sheet and toast them for 5 minutes. Set them aside and reduce temperature to 325˚F.
5. When wheat berries get very tender, drain off the milk in a glass measuring cup. Keep 1/2 cup of the cooked milk and discard the rest. Combine 1/2 cup of honey with 1/2 cup of saved milk and stir until combined.
6. Place cooked wheat berries in a mixing bowl, add ground poppy seeds, 1/2 cup raisins, 2/3 cup dry chopped apricots, 2/3 cup toasted slivered almonds, honey-milk mixture and 1/8 tsp salt. Mix everything together and place in an casserole or pie dish, than bake your kutia for 20 minutes uncovered at 325˚F.
7. Remove kutia from the oven, cover with foil and let it rest 15 min. Serve warm or cold. The longer it sits, the more flavor it will have. Kutia will last in the fridge for a good 2 weeks.
Credits: Poppyseed mixture instructions from our Poppyseed filling recipe. Recipe also adapted from Grandma Galina in church and the Cookbook, Please to the Table by Anya Von Bremzen & John Welchman.
Kutia Recipe (Sweet Wheat Berry Pudding)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Rinse wheat berries in cold water until water runs clear, then transfer to a bowl and soak overnight in lukewarm water, adding enough water to cover 2-inches above the wheat berries.
- The following day, drain wheat berries, place them in a medium-sized heavy pot, cover with 4 1/2 cups of milk and bring everything to a boil over high heat. When milk starts to boil, reduce heat to low, cover with lid and simmer until wheat berries are very tender, 3 1/2 - 4 hours, depending on the quality of the wheat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Add more milk if needed to keep the wheat berries fully submerged (If you simmer over low heat, you won't have to add anymore milk).
- While the wheat berries are on the stove, rinse 3/4 cups of poppy seeds thoroughly in a fine mesh sieve, drain well, and transfer to a medium sauce pan and add 3 cups water. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer (Don’t boil). Turn off. Cover with lid and let it sit for 30 min. Return to a simmer (don’t boil). Turn off. Cover and let it sit for another 30 minutes. Drain poppy seeds well through a colander or by keeping lid on and placing several layers of cheese cloth over lid to catch stray poppy seeds. Push the poppy seeds through a food grinder, using the fine grinding plate (You can also mill the poppy seeds in batches in a clean coffee grinder).
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spread 2/3 cups of slivered almonds on a baking sheet and toast them for 5 minutes. Set them aside and reduce temperature to 325˚F.
- When wheat berries get very tender, drain off the milk in a glass measuring cup. Keep 1/2 cup of the cooked milk and discard the rest. Combine 1/2 cup of honey with 1/2 cup of saved milk and stir until combined.
- Place cooked wheat berries in a mixing bowl, add ground poppy seeds, 1/2 cup raisins, 2/3 cup dry chopped apricots, 2/3 cup toasted slivered almonds, honey-milk mixture and 1/8 tsp salt. Mix everything together and place in an casserole or pie dish, than bake your kutia for 20 min uncovered at 325˚F.
- Remove kutia from the oven, cover with foil and let it rest 15 min. Serve warm or cold. The longer it sits, the more flavor it will have. Kutia will last in the fridge for a good 2 weeks.
♥ FAVORITE THINGS ♥
Shown in this post: (nope, no one paid us to write this; just stuff we love):
* These pyrex glass bowls are perfect for mixing and serving.
* Having a variety of glass measuring cups is essential.
* The OXO strainers are wonderful for sifting, straining, rinsing, etc.
* This utensil set sits right next to my stove. It gets used – alot!
This looks delicious! Looks really healthy too! I bet it’ll be good as breakfast on any day! I may have to try it. Thanks!
I agree I loved having it for breakfast every time my husband made it. It’s such a treat and it sure is healthy.
as a little girl kutia for me was like a punish,,but now i really love it 😀
There are quite a few foods that were that way for me too and now I just absolutely love them! 🙂
I have canned poppy seeds, can I use it instead? How much should I use?
I never tried canned poppy seeds in this recipe, but I would add them to taste, maybe 1/2 cup. Hope this helps and let me know how it will work out :).
Instead of cooking for Jan. 6th, our church was having a dinner. The Deacon in charge made the Kutia, his wheat was cracked, as if you put the whole wheat into a food processor for a couple of spins…really looked like quinoa at first…he puts honey, poppyseed, orange juice and orange zest, it was good, never had it that way.
That sounds like an intetesting and tasy combination! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂
Have you tried substituting groats for the wheat berries. Need to look for the wheat berries. Gave it a 5 looks goodwill have to try it.
I havent teied that and havent seen it used in kutia before.
We too make kutia for Christmas Eve, as it is one of the 12 traditional dishes served by Ukrainians. I like your addition of dried apricots, something I will try. We generally add golden raisins and nuts. Merry Christmas!
Golden raisins would be perfect also! What other traditional meals do you make for the holidays?
Golden raisins would be perfect also! What other traditional meals do you make for the holidays?
I’ve been wanting to make Kutia for a while now! Every time Christmas time comes around but then I never get to making it. I don’t remember eating this with apricots or any kind of fruit. Would it still be the same sweetness if I don’t include the apricots? Or is there any other dry fruit that would be a good substitute? Thank you for posting this recipe I will definitely have to make it now!
The apricots don’t really sweeten this much at all. I like them in there for the slightly sweet tart contrast and the pop of color. You could just use raisins and omit the apricots if you don’t want them. I hope you love this kutia! 🙂
That’s interesting, I had tried making “kutia,” but with cracked wheat, just like a regular hot porridge. I tried making in the multi-cooker though and had a hard time getting the right consistency.
I haven’t tried using a multi-cooker before so I really can’t offer any cooking time advice. It takes quite a while on the stove.
I’ve tried several versions of the kutya. We grew up in Ukraine and my mom makes it every year. I love her version, and yours comes close (except she uses walnuts, broken in about pea sized pieces. My aunt even adds tiny pieces of dark chocolate). She doesn’t bake it in the end though, does that bring the flavors better together in your version? Someone commented on the soupier version. It can be eaten like that but when I tried it, it wasn’t the same. I’ll have to try and make it myself next year and impress my mom. Thanks to your husband for recreating this recipe.
The dark chocolate has my name written all over it! 😉 I hope you love this recipe and that you totally impress your mom 🙂 Thanks Oksana 🙂
Eastern European Christmas is on December 25. Old Rite Christmas is on January 7.
Do the poppyseed have to be made as the mixture, that you have separate recipe for it, or they just have to be just grinded, without the condensed milk?..
I double cooked the poppyseed mixture as detailed in the instructions above, but if you want to see the photos for the process, you can click on the link above. The only thing I didn’t do with the poppyseed filling was add condensed milk. The honey sweetens the dish enough and it doesn’t need the condensed milk. I hope that makes sense. Everything is detailed in the recipe. You won’t be able to grind the poppy seeds if you just add them raw. One of the recipes we tested had raw poppy seeds and they tasted bitter, so I’d definitely recommend the cooking method I talk about above.
Alright 🙂 gotcha!:) thank you , so much Natasha!:)
Ahh, yumminess!! For me the combination of honey/milk/poppyseeds cannot be any better! I’ve tried it just once in my childhood, at my friend’s house. He mom made perfect one! Looking at your kutya reminds me so much of hers! I’d love to give it a try of making it myself asap:))) thank you for the recipe , Natasha!:)
I hope you love it just as much as you remember :). I love how food can bring back sweet memories 🙂
You got me intrigued with this dish! Never heard of it nor had it….I don’t think 🙂 But like Marina said it sounds like kasha, which I pretty much grew up on .
It must be fairly regional. My husband grew up with this but he introduced me to it just in the past few years. 🙂
Kasha is the name for the wheat berries. Kutia is the sweet traditional dish that contains kasha
I sometimes cook Kasha as a side dish, cooked in beef broth and add wild mushrooms and onions…
These sound and look healthy and delicious! I wonder how I’ve never heard of these, since I have quite a few Russian / Ukranian friends 🙂 Pinned!
It really is a healthy dish! I can’t think of a more well-rounded breakfast. I mean, it’s definitely more complicated than my usual breakfasts, but then of course it is a special occasion breakfast 🙂 Thanks so much for pinning!
Is there a certain quantity of water that the wheat berries have to be soaked in overnight?
Katerina, cover with at least two inches of water above the wheat berries.
Hi Natasha, i’m from Moldova and my grandma made a version of Kutya a couple of times and i loved it. i want to make it again but where do they sell the wheat berries. i don’t remember ever seeing it at safeway or any other grocery store…
We’ve purchased the wheat berries in Rosauers and Whole Foods both in the bin sections. You might call around to your local grocery stores to see if they carry it before going all over town.
i will do that. thank you
I am from Russia, but never heard or ate this before. Interesting…..
I think it’s very regional. My husband grew up enjoying this during the holidays but I hadn’t tried it until he made it for me 🙂
I’ve only ever eaten this in church (in the Russian Orthodox Christian church) and it has each time been on the occasion specifically to commemorate someone who had died. So maybe that is how it is eaten in Russia mainly? Can’t wait to try to make it (we are Ukrainian on my dad’s side, so maybe on that side of the family, at least per these other posts, there are completely different associations with this dish).
This is traditionally eaten on Christmas eve, but it is a very special dish so I can see how it could be used that way.
You should do a French macaron recipe, that would be a hit.
I’ve tried French macarons from some of the best bakeries but just wasn’t taken by them enough to really want to recreate them. Also, I have tried, and failed :-O and wasn’t determined enough to keep trying. It might happen eventually :). Thanks for the encouragement! 😉
This looks great! This is one of my Husband’s favorite Ukrainian dishes, but my attempt to make it on Christmas eve was a bit of a fail. I will definitely have to give this one a try. Pinned!
It was a fail first time for my husband as well. But the recipe worked out great this time and brought some sweet memories from his childhood :).
Mmm… I love kutya! Do you guys usually eat it like this or do you add enough milk to make it soupy?
Marina, we just eat it like this, without adding any milk :). How do you eat your kutia?