The healthy Easter Sunday!

Of bunnies and hares and colourful eggs in a basket, Easter Sunday arrives in Bangladesh in all its glory. Celebrated the world over by the Christian community, Easter traditions are a mix of rituals borrowed from times before Christianity to local depictions of the Day of the Resurrection of Christ. 

Come March equinox and the calendar for Easter Sunday swings into motion as Christians the world over prepare to end their 40 day fasting period called the Lent, which leads to a day that symbolises the resurrection of Christ, on Easter Sunday. This event follows the Easter Triduum (Latin 3 days): Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, which collectively symbolise Christ's arrival in Jerusalem, the last supper and his crucifixion, respectively. 

Easter, is a name possibly derived from Germanic roots with the goddess Eostre in whose honour a pagan festival was celebrated with a feast and the welcoming of spring. Orthodox Christians therefore still refer to it as Pascha, which is derived from the Jewish festival of Passover.  

The traditions of eggs and the Easter bunny are all signs of spring, fertility and a new beginning as the bunny is known to be a highly productive animal! Colouring the eggs has been going on for as long back as 5000 BC, which were then presented as signs of friendship and even as symbols of a new beginning.

The Zoroastrians of Persia also celebrated Nowroz (New Day) or their New Year, decorating eggs. Some traditions colour the eggs red as the blood of Christ while others go for an empty shell that signifies the rising of Christ leaving his tomb empty. 

Certain symbolisms go with a typical Easter table spread like the lamb dish signifying Christ who was known to be the "lamb of God" while others predate to pagan rituals like the ham, which brings luck, cake/bread amounts to fertility and eggs symbolise a new beginning. 

The fearless Olive wishes all its Christian readers a happy Easter Sunday. Eat well, eat healthy and give our merry Easter menu a shot! 

Hot cross buns
Archaeologists excavated the ancient city of Herculaneum in southwestern Italy, which had been buried under volcanic ash and lava since 79 C.E. and found two small loaves, each with a cross on it, among the ruins. The English word "bun" probably came from the Greek boun but it is thought that bread was served as an offering to Eostre. Hot cross buns came about in the times of the Tudor dynasty as bread was mostly prohibited during Lent and the fact that they were really hot was a value addition!
Ingredients: 
(Serves 10 Hot Cross Buns)
250g whole-wheat flour
50g Quaker oats
1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp dried yeast
½ cup milk 
1 tbsp honey, 1 tsp orange zest
¼ cup olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup black raisins
1 tsp murabba or candied fruit
½ cup hung yoghurt (or yoghurt with as little amount of water) and 1 tbsp  molasses 
Method:
Mix the wholemeal flour, oats, cinnamon, yeast and a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Warm the milk, zest and honey until just slightly warm, then pour into the mixing bowl along with the egg and oil. Mix the dough for about 6 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Add the dried fruits and mix through. 
Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or glad wrap and leave the dough to double in size in a warm place for about 1 hour. Knock back the dough and tip it out for kneading. Kneed for about 2 minutes then shape into 10 rolls. Cover lightly and allow to rise for another 30 minutes or until double in size. Preheat your oven to 160 C. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. 
Serving:
Mix the molasses with the yoghurt and refrigerate until you are ready to serve the buns, then pipe a cross using a piping gun on top of the buns. Enjoy. 

Eggs Mimosa local style
Eggs Mimosa, as they are called in the UK, can contribute to a zesty Easter Sunday spread. As an addition to your egg dish, boil eggs with beetroot juice and turmeric powder to colour your eggs for that special Easter flavour! Also known as devilled eggs, this savoury egg dish takes on a localised flavour in the Fearless Olive's recipe here:
 Ingredients:
4 hard boiled duck or chicken eggs
Half cup crushed fresh strawberries (the sour kind)
1 tsp kashondi mix
1 tbsp chopped spring onions (green leafy part)
1 tsp mint leaves finely chopped
1 tbsp roasted sesame
Salt and pepper to taste 
Method:
Gently peel off the shells from the boiled eggs then cut them in oval halves. Empty out the middle yolk gently without tearing the white top. Mix all ingredients together and ensure that the strawberry mash is not giving off excess water. Mash up the yolks together with 1 teaspoon kashondi mixture, and the rest of the ingredients. Once all the ingredients are well mixed, scoop them back into the boiled egg whites carefully so they look like the yolks. 
Serving:
Serve the eggs mimosa with the coloured eggs and brighten up your spread!

Egg muffin combo
It's all about eggs this week as most Easter tables creak under the weight of a lamb roast or a hefty rice dish or lots of food that adds those extra pounds. But on Easter Sunday as the house is abuzz with activity, it's always nice to serve something healthy a la Fearless Olive while cooking food for the family, so here's a light egg muffin combo.
Ingredients: 
4 whole eggs and 4 egg whites
½ cup diced red onions
½ cup diced capsicum
1 tbsp chopped garlic 
1 tbsp chopped coriander and mint leaves
1 tbsp chopped green onions (leafy parts)
½ tsp poppy seed (posto dana) paste
2 tbsp olive oil
Method:
Sauté the onions in the oil for a minute then add the garlic for another minute, before adding the capsicum. After another minute or two as the mix starts smelling garlicky and strong, take it off the fire and add the spring onions, coriander, poppy seed paste and mint leaves. Whisk the 4 eggs and the egg whites then add the onion mix to the egg whisk and mix it.  

Take a muffin tray then pour the mixture into its hollows. Pre-heat oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes then stick the tray inside and cook at 160 degrees until they have risen and are slightly golden brown on the top.  
Serving:
Serve with an aloo bukhara or sweet plum chutney.