Bowl with kutia - traditional Christmas sweet meal in Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, on wooden table, on bright background
Cabbage soup and porridge - our food. And not only on weekdays. You can put porridge on the festive table, this really happens. This option is especially relevant on the eve of the year of the yellow pig. She will be delighted with such a treat, but she will have to cook the dish in an unusual way.
What porridge to cook for the holiday
Not every porridge can be put on the table. Everyday semolina or oatmeal is unlikely to be surprised, no one will touch them. When choosing, it is worth giving preference to other cereals. Rice, pearl barley, bulgur are perfect, buckwheat is allowed. In any case, we select selected high-quality cereals and cook in an unusual way. There will be little water and salt for the festive dish, you will have to add something else to it.
How can porridge be used on the festive table:
- In the form of an independent dish. A vivid example of this is Christmas kutya. Also below you can find a variant of delicious porridge from bulgur with shrimp or from rice with pineapple and chicken.
- In the form of a side dish. Why not use a healthy porridge to replace pasta or potatoes? Below is a variant of rice porridge with spinach, which is great for this purpose.
- In the form of a filling. Porridge is often stuffed with cereals. Goose, turkey, chicken with cereals are much more satisfying, interesting, moreover, it solves the issue with a side dish.
Sweet cereals can be used in festive desserts. On the basis of semolina prepare stunning soufflé, creams. There is baked goods from ready-made cereals, but in their pure form they are extremely rarely put on the table, kutia is an exception.
Christmas kutia
On the eve of Christmas and Baptism, it is customary for some nations to cook kutia. This porridge is sweet, with dried fruits, honey, nuts. Great treat, which is not a dessert. Often it is served on the table first, carried home. In each house, kutya is prepared differently, here is only one of the recipes. The main ingredient is wheat.
Ingredients
- 200 g of wheat;
- 50 g of nuts;
- 100 g of honey;
- 70 g of raisins or other dried fruits;
- 50 g of poppy seeds.
Cooking method
- Sort wheat, pour water for two hours. Then rinse, change the liquid and boil until tender. We do not let it boil actively so that the grains retain their shape. Drain into a colander, let the excess water drain. If suddenly the wheat is sticky, then you can rinse.
- Steam poppy with hot water, leave for five minutes, then strain through a sieve. Sometimes it is ground or ground, we do it at will.
- Soak raisins separately. Fry the nuts in a dry pan, chop into pieces of the desired size.
- Season finished wheat with poppy seeds, squeezed raisins, pour honey, pour nuts. Stir with kuti, let it brew. Then we put in small bowls, put on a festive table.
Often kuta is cooked with rice, cereals can simply be replaced, leaving the same dressing for porridge.
Rice porridge with spinach
An unusually delicate version of the side dish, which can be served on a children's or adult festive table. To do this, just adjust the amount of spices. Choose rice long and large, to get a beautiful and crumbly porridge.
Ingredients
- 100 g spinach;
- 1.5 tbsp. rice;
- 60 g butter;
- 1 onion;
- salt, pepper and other spices.
Cooking method
- Rice wash several times, pour into a pan with a thick bottom. Add three glasses of water. Pour half a teaspoon of salt. Cook after boiling for a quarter of an hour. Then remove from the stove, leave for ten minutes, do not lift the lid. We take glasses for rice and water of the same volume so as not to upset the proportions.
- Grind onions with a blender. Heat the butter, put the vegetable and boil for about ten minutes. All moisture should leave the onion, but you don’t need to fry it.
- Rinse and cut the spinach to shift to the onion, cook for another two minutes. Good salt. The mixture should be slightly salted, pepper to taste, you can enter any seasonings.
- Put the spinach in a pan with rice. Cover, leave for ten minutes. Then stir, serve.
Such side dishes look beautiful if you use cooking rings, molds or just small bowls for laying on plates. We stuff them with porridge, then turn them over.
Bulgur porridge with shrimp
This porridge can be used as an independent dish. It turns out a very satisfying, but not difficult option for the festive table.
Ingredients
- 300 g of bulgur;
- 400 g of frozen vegetable mixture;
- 250 g of shrimp;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- frying oil;
- parsley for decoration.
Cooking method
- Boil bulgur for about 20 minutes according to the instructions. If water remains in the porridge, then drain. Do not forget to add bulgur.
- Pour the vegetable mixture into the heated oil. We choose according to your taste. Cooking exactly eight minutes. Season with salt.
- In a separate pan, fry the peeled shrimp for about two minutes, send to the vegetables. Add bulgur, garlic, stir.
- We cover the pan, turn off the stove. Let the porridge stand for ten minutes. When serving to the festive table, we decorate with greens.
You can cook bulgur not only with shrimp, but also with squid. Such cereal goes well with a mixture of seafood
Thai rice porridge with pineapple and chicken
Another interesting porridge recipe for the festive table. This dish is Thai. You can use the fillet, as indicated in the recipe, or take the cut meat from the chicken thigh.
Ingredients
- 250 g long rice;
- 200 g canned pineapple;
- 400 g chicken;
- 50 ml of soy sauce;
- 30 ml of oil;
- 1 lime;
- 1 tsp honey.
Cooking method
- Wash rice and simply boil until tender, drain excess moisture.
- Cut the chicken into small cubes. Pour into warmed oil. Fry over high heat for five minutes. Filet should be browned.
- Add pineapples to the chicken, evaporate the excess juice. Cook with the chicken for another five minutes.
- Introduce soy sauce, honey, add juice from half lime. Cook without a lid for another five minutes.
- Pour the cooked rice to the chicken with pineapples, stir, cover. Leave on low heat for another two minutes. Garnish the finished porridge with lime slices.
As you can see, even porridge has a place on the festive table, you just need to cook it in an unusual way, be sure to add some interesting ingredients.
