Note #1
There is no one way to make Koliva! I eyeballed a lot of my ingredients as I like more wheat than other ingredients generally. Most ingredients can be found at a middle eastern market (safa bakery had the wheat)
​
Note #2
For pulverized/ground wheat or ground walnuts , I just pulsed with a bullet blender and set aside. You don’t need any fancy blenders to do this. If you don’t have a blender I am sure you can crush by hand or use a mortar and pestle.
​
You Will Need

• Blender

• Pots

• Wax or parchment paper

• Serving bowl or deep casserole dish

• Towels or paper towels

​
Ingredients

• Two bags of uncooked pearled wheat which should make a generous offering (one bag is 1LB 8oz or 680grams).

• Stevia powder for sweetener or honey or granulated sugar (I used stevia powder because it isn’t sticky and it cuts down the sugar since I know I’m going to add pure sugar on top of the cooked wheat to garnish and decorate).

• A hearty pulverized wheat powder: I ground plain Cheerios as a last minute hack but people also use graham crackers ground or ground chickpea in powder form. You need one of these to coat your cooked wheat, and you’ll need some for decorating on top also depending on your design.

• Raisins ( golden preferably as it is more pretty) I used some Mixed in and some for decorating.

• Sweetened dried cranberries (people usually use pomegranate).

• Chopped walnuts mixed in and walnuts for decorating (people also use almond).

• Ground walnuts , I finely ground and added to the ground wheat powder above.

• Ground anise seed powder , added a small amount to the ground powder above.

• Anise seeds (not star anise).

• Cinnamon sticks.

• Cinnamon powder.

• Orange peel.

• Confectioners powdered sugar for decorating the top.

• Optional ingredients: (I’ve know people to add orange zest , chopped mint leaves, chopped parsley leaves, almond slivers, Jordan almonds, pomegranate, or candied chickpeas) I’m sure tradition and culture plays a role here.
   

Instructions

1. Rinse and wash the pearled wheat to remove debris.

2. Then soak with filtered water for at least an hour if you have time then longer. Use filtered water because your pearls will soak up some water.

3. While your wheat soaks prepare your boiling water.

4. When cooking the wheat use pots big enough where the wheat fills less than 3/4 of the pot because when it’s cooked it will increase significantly in size so you may need to use a few pots depending on the serving of wheat you’re making.

5. Prepare your filtered water to boil by adding sticks of cinnamon, a generous amount of anise seeds (not star anise) because you want the seeds to be added to the finished product if possible and add orange skins/orange peel. If you don’t have these ingredients, that’s okay, just boil filtered water.

6. When these ingredients boil it makes a delicious base for your wheat to cook and absorb. This really makes for flavorful wheat. But again it is optional. You can add in these flavors to your cooked wheat too.

7. Have extra hot water, filtered, ready to go in case you need to add water to your pot(s) because sometimes the wheat pearls soak up more water than expected and you don’t want them to dry up in the pot.

8. Cook the wheat pearls for about an hour or when you see the wheat pearl starting to open up (taste one , it shouldn’t be raw or overcooked). you do not want the wheat to break in half in the pot, if it does then that’s a sign it’s overcooked.

9. When cooked, drain and transfer to cool and dry overnight. I prefer to scoop and strain out the wheat while still in the pot so I can scoop up the cooked anise seeds otherwise they will drain out of a large collander.

10. Set aside to throw away any of the cinnamon sticks and orange peels.

11. I recommend using large baking sheets and layering the wheat thin so it can cool and dry. I line my sheets with paper towels to soak up any moisture. Leave uncovered at room temperature until the morning. If you’re worried about debris or bugs, you can cover with a large mesh food cover.

Separately
1. Pulverize / grind whatever powder you’re using (graham crackers, or chickpea powder, or
cheerios , and/or walnuts ground finely).
2. You want enough to coat your cooked pearls but not so much that it becomes clumps
separate from the wheat pearls.
​
In the morning

• Prepare the dish you will offer at the memorial table by adding in all your ingredients . like to layer ingredients and then gently mix: cooked wheat, pulverized wheat or wheat substitute, sweeteners and dried fruits, powdered cinnamon and powdered anise.

• Avoid using too much confectioners powdered sugar in the mix because it’ll dissolve and make the wheat sticky.

• To decorate Do not add confectioners powdered sugar until the very last possible chance (maybe at church if you’re able) if not possible to decorate at church, then after decorating do not cover with foil or plastic wrap because the sugar will melt and you’ll end up with no white top to your koliva.

• When decorating , generously add enough confectioners powdered sugar to cover the top of the wheat . Cut out a large sheet of parchment paper and put it on top to help you smooth out the sugar and pat it down and evenly apply it.

• Once you have your sugar patted down evenly , you can decorate as you wish.

• I precut a cross stencil and filled in the cross with my powdered wheat.
  ​