<p>Festivities, the world over, are a smorgasbord of religious traditions and fine food. These twin aspects satisfy the spiritual hunger as well as the appetite of the soul and body of those hankering for peace and wellbeing. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Easter, the oldest and most important Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is true to these core aspects of the commemoration of a religious event. Between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox, Christians universally recall with joy the resurgence of Christ from death. Easter ushers in spring, literally and symbolically, as the feast coincides with the spring season and symbolises the revival of life after death.<br /><br />As with any festivity, families get together and celebrate the day over a feast of some lip-smacking delicacies. Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, marshmallows, hot-cross buns, cookies, cakes, meat-roasts and steaks are traditionally part of the popular Easter spread. Though many of these traditional recipes are still the norm, not much of its significance is remembered today. Interestingly, all the traditional goodies eaten during Easter time were rich in symbolism and connected directly to the heart of the festival, which is renewal and new life. <br /><br />Legend of the goodies<br /><br />Trawling through the practices and traditions associated with dishing out a whole bunch of goodies for the season, we have here some fascinating facts about the origins and symbolism of delectable Easter treats. Let’s start with the Easter eggs, the most popular tradition practised even today. With its origins in the pre-Christian, Pagan times, it is meant to embody life. <br /><br />As an egg is a symbol of birth and life, an Easter egg captures the very spirit of the day’s celebration, which is Christ coming to life again after his death on the cross on Good Friday. This imagery of new life is further laced with fun and frolic as children are made to believe that the Easter Bunny has hidden the eggs in secret places at home, including the yards, giving kids enough reason to run around merrily in the quest of unearthing these eggs filled with chocolates and toffees for their enjoyment. In many ways, the Easter Bunny is synonymous with Santa Claus of Christmas.<br /><br />Hot-cross buns, which are highly flavoured baked rolls, are another specialised item of the season. Though it is customary to bake these buns with a sign of the cross on its surface to signify Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, the buns are eaten all through the Easter week. Its significance, as Steve Jenkins, Church of England spokesman, put it eloquently, lies in the fact that, “You have got the bread, as per the communion, you have got the spices that represent the spices Jesus was wrapped in the tomb, and you have got the cross. They are fairly full of Christian symbolism.”<br /><br />Cookies and cakes baked during the Easter time become a special treat as the rich aroma of flour, eggs, butter and sugar browning in the oven marks the end of the austere Lenten season. It is a kind of beginning of all celebrations to honour the start of a new hope. Making and gifting scrumptious treats to family and friends in decorated Easter baskets is an integral part of the festival. Chocolate-chip cookies, coconut fruitcake cookies, almond cookies, vanilla bars, chocolate, butterscotch and Simnel cakes are some of the popular baked goodies this time of the year.<br /><br />The lunch and dinner spread usually cover a wide range of roasts and casseroles with breads and rolls for accompaniments. Though most of these traditional Easter recipes are still popular worldwide, over the years each nation has adopted its own flavours and variations giving the traditional recipes a local touch. In India, for instance, many western recipes, improved further with eastern spices, keep the waft of the Easter air rich in aromas, thereby setting the perfect mood for this joyous season.<br /><br />So, go ahead, bring out the cutlery. It’s time to dig into the season’s favourite dishes. Try these easy-to-do recipes at home and ring in the mood of Easter into the dining room. It brings cheer and mirth not just to the connoisseurs, but to one and all with a spirit to rejoice in new life!<br /><br />Chocolate cake with fudge frosting<br /><br />For the fudge frosting (sufficient to ice the top and sides of one 20.5 cm – 8 inch cake)<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />White cooking butter – 50 gm<br />Cocoa powder – 30 ml (2 tbsp)<br />Milk – 45 ml (3 tbsp)<br /> Icing sugar – 150 gm<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Put the cocoa and butter into a bowl and cook for 20-30 seconds until the butter has melted. Stir well.<br /><br />Add the milk. Sieve over the icing sugar and beat into the mixture until smooth and shiny. Use immediately. <br /><br />For the chocolate cake<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />Flour – 250 gm<br />Caster sugar – 200 gm<br />Cooking butter – 150 gm<br />Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp<br />Eggs – 3<br />Baking powder – 1¼ tsp<br />Vanilla essence – 1 tsp<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Beat the eggs until frothy.<br />Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add to the eggs and blend.<br />Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. Mix into the wet mixture.<br />Pour in the vanilla essence.<br />Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.<br />Grease a cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes.<br />When done, allow to cool in a wire rack.<br />Pour the fudge icing over the cake, spreading it evenly over the top and sides.<br />Allow the icing to set for half an hour.<br /><br />Soya mutton-chops roast<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />Mutton chops – 1/2 kg<br />Green chilies (paste) – 6<br />Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp<br />Garam masala – 1 tsp<br />Soya sauce -1 tbsp<br />Apple cedar vinegar – 1 tbsp<br />Chopped onion – 1 <br />Salt and pepper – to taste<br />Herbs for garnish<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Wash and pat dry the mutton chops.<br />Mix in the chopped onion, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, soya sauce, chili-paste, <br />pepper, gram masala and salt.<br />Allow to marinate for an hour.<br />Cook until meat is tender and dry.<br />Heat oil in a pan and shallow-fry the cooked meat.<br />Garnish with herbs.<br />Serve with mashed potatoes, sautéed <br />vegetables and French loaf.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>Festivities, the world over, are a smorgasbord of religious traditions and fine food. These twin aspects satisfy the spiritual hunger as well as the appetite of the soul and body of those hankering for peace and wellbeing. <br /><br /></p>.<p>Easter, the oldest and most important Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is true to these core aspects of the commemoration of a religious event. Between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox, Christians universally recall with joy the resurgence of Christ from death. Easter ushers in spring, literally and symbolically, as the feast coincides with the spring season and symbolises the revival of life after death.<br /><br />As with any festivity, families get together and celebrate the day over a feast of some lip-smacking delicacies. Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, marshmallows, hot-cross buns, cookies, cakes, meat-roasts and steaks are traditionally part of the popular Easter spread. Though many of these traditional recipes are still the norm, not much of its significance is remembered today. Interestingly, all the traditional goodies eaten during Easter time were rich in symbolism and connected directly to the heart of the festival, which is renewal and new life. <br /><br />Legend of the goodies<br /><br />Trawling through the practices and traditions associated with dishing out a whole bunch of goodies for the season, we have here some fascinating facts about the origins and symbolism of delectable Easter treats. Let’s start with the Easter eggs, the most popular tradition practised even today. With its origins in the pre-Christian, Pagan times, it is meant to embody life. <br /><br />As an egg is a symbol of birth and life, an Easter egg captures the very spirit of the day’s celebration, which is Christ coming to life again after his death on the cross on Good Friday. This imagery of new life is further laced with fun and frolic as children are made to believe that the Easter Bunny has hidden the eggs in secret places at home, including the yards, giving kids enough reason to run around merrily in the quest of unearthing these eggs filled with chocolates and toffees for their enjoyment. In many ways, the Easter Bunny is synonymous with Santa Claus of Christmas.<br /><br />Hot-cross buns, which are highly flavoured baked rolls, are another specialised item of the season. Though it is customary to bake these buns with a sign of the cross on its surface to signify Jesus’ crucifixion on Good Friday, the buns are eaten all through the Easter week. Its significance, as Steve Jenkins, Church of England spokesman, put it eloquently, lies in the fact that, “You have got the bread, as per the communion, you have got the spices that represent the spices Jesus was wrapped in the tomb, and you have got the cross. They are fairly full of Christian symbolism.”<br /><br />Cookies and cakes baked during the Easter time become a special treat as the rich aroma of flour, eggs, butter and sugar browning in the oven marks the end of the austere Lenten season. It is a kind of beginning of all celebrations to honour the start of a new hope. Making and gifting scrumptious treats to family and friends in decorated Easter baskets is an integral part of the festival. Chocolate-chip cookies, coconut fruitcake cookies, almond cookies, vanilla bars, chocolate, butterscotch and Simnel cakes are some of the popular baked goodies this time of the year.<br /><br />The lunch and dinner spread usually cover a wide range of roasts and casseroles with breads and rolls for accompaniments. Though most of these traditional Easter recipes are still popular worldwide, over the years each nation has adopted its own flavours and variations giving the traditional recipes a local touch. In India, for instance, many western recipes, improved further with eastern spices, keep the waft of the Easter air rich in aromas, thereby setting the perfect mood for this joyous season.<br /><br />So, go ahead, bring out the cutlery. It’s time to dig into the season’s favourite dishes. Try these easy-to-do recipes at home and ring in the mood of Easter into the dining room. It brings cheer and mirth not just to the connoisseurs, but to one and all with a spirit to rejoice in new life!<br /><br />Chocolate cake with fudge frosting<br /><br />For the fudge frosting (sufficient to ice the top and sides of one 20.5 cm – 8 inch cake)<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />White cooking butter – 50 gm<br />Cocoa powder – 30 ml (2 tbsp)<br />Milk – 45 ml (3 tbsp)<br /> Icing sugar – 150 gm<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Put the cocoa and butter into a bowl and cook for 20-30 seconds until the butter has melted. Stir well.<br /><br />Add the milk. Sieve over the icing sugar and beat into the mixture until smooth and shiny. Use immediately. <br /><br />For the chocolate cake<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />Flour – 250 gm<br />Caster sugar – 200 gm<br />Cooking butter – 150 gm<br />Cocoa powder – 2 tbsp<br />Eggs – 3<br />Baking powder – 1¼ tsp<br />Vanilla essence – 1 tsp<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Beat the eggs until frothy.<br />Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add to the eggs and blend.<br />Sieve the flour, baking powder and cocoa powder together. Mix into the wet mixture.<br />Pour in the vanilla essence.<br />Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes.<br />Grease a cake tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade for 30 minutes.<br />When done, allow to cool in a wire rack.<br />Pour the fudge icing over the cake, spreading it evenly over the top and sides.<br />Allow the icing to set for half an hour.<br /><br />Soya mutton-chops roast<br /><br />Ingredients<br /><br />Mutton chops – 1/2 kg<br />Green chilies (paste) – 6<br />Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp<br />Garam masala – 1 tsp<br />Soya sauce -1 tbsp<br />Apple cedar vinegar – 1 tbsp<br />Chopped onion – 1 <br />Salt and pepper – to taste<br />Herbs for garnish<br /><br />Method<br /><br />Wash and pat dry the mutton chops.<br />Mix in the chopped onion, ginger-garlic paste, vinegar, soya sauce, chili-paste, <br />pepper, gram masala and salt.<br />Allow to marinate for an hour.<br />Cook until meat is tender and dry.<br />Heat oil in a pan and shallow-fry the cooked meat.<br />Garnish with herbs.<br />Serve with mashed potatoes, sautéed <br />vegetables and French loaf.<br /><br /><br /></p>
