Kūčia (Lithuanian Christmas Eve Dish)
Kūčia isn’t just a Christmas Eve dish—it’s a Lithuanian tradition steeped in centuries of symbolism and history. Although not often seen on modern Christmas Eve tables, this ancient grain dish honors the harvest, celebrates good health, and even welcomes the spirits of ancestors back home for the feast. So, grab your oats and poppy seeds, and let’s bring some retro holiday magic to your table, Lithuanian-style!
Ingredients
- 200 g (1¼ cups) oat groats
- 2 tablespoon poppy seeds
- ¼ cup blanched hazelnuts
- ¼ cup dried cranberries currants or raisins
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoon sunflower seeds
- 1 teaspoon ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 120 ml (½ cup + 2 tbsp) poppy seed milk
Instructions
- First, make the poppy seed milk by following the recipe here. If you're short on time, we recommend using your favorite nut milk (hazelnut, almond or cashew milk work well).
- Place the oat groats in lots of cold water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20-25 minutes. You want the oat groats to soften, but still retain a bit of bite.
- In the meantime, pour boiling water over the poppy seeds, cover and leave to soak (if you made poppy seed milk, you may use 2 tablespoon of blitzed poppy seeds instead).
- In a dry frying pan, lightly toast the hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, leave them to cool down.
- Once the oat groats are cooked, drain well, and run plenty of cold water through them. Leave the oats to drain completely in a colander.
- In a large bowl, mix the oats, toasted seeds and nuts, poppy seeds, dried fruit, flaxseed, salt, honey and poppy milk.