Easter recipes from around the world
Love a hot cross bun, but looking for something different to cook this Easter?
As we head into the Easter weekend, we’ve curated some Easter recipes from around the world for you to try! All of the countries these recipes originate from are places that people currently supported by Boaz would call home.
Adas from Syria
A Syrian breakfast on Easter Sunday is made up of white foods - yoghurt, eggs, cheese and milk puddings, as well as round, oval or plaited flat loaves of bread, known as adas.
This mildly spiced bread is taken warm from the oven and covered in butter or jam, eaten accompanied by a hard boiled egg, blue cheese or some olives.
Ingredients
1½ tsp dry yeast
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp warm water plus another 30ml
450g plain white flour
1 tsp cinnamon
110g salted butter
Big pinch of bicarbonate of soda
1 beaten egg to glaze
Optional blanched almonds to decorate
Method
- Beat the yeast and half a teaspoon of the sugar with the 5 tablespoons of warm water. Leave in a warm place for 10 minutes or so to froth.
- Rub the butter into the flour and spice mixture. Stir in the bicarb, sugar, foamy yeast and water. Then knead for about 10 minutes.
- Put the dough in a loosely covered bowl in a warm place until it has doubled in size and the surface has started to crack.
- Then knead briefly again to release air and cut into three pieces.
- Form each of these into a ball. Roll the balls out into flat circles about ½ in thick and put on oiled baking sheets. Cover with a cloth and leave to rise again for 20 minutes or so.
- Just before baking, press almonds into the surface in hearts, crosses, stars and flowers, or indent similar shapes with your fingertips. Brush all over with beaten egg.
- Bake in a hot oven (220-230°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Doro Wot/Tsebhi Doro from Ethiopia & Eritrea
In Ethiopia and Eritrea, Christians celebrate Fasika, which is the Amharic word for Easter. Fasika encompasses the 55-day-long period of lent and the following celebration of Jesus’ death and resurrection. During this celebration, Ethiopian Christians will greet each other with the words Melkam Fasika, and Eritrean Christians will say Ruhus Beal Fasika, both meaning, Happy Easter!
One of the defining features of Fasika celebrations is food. All kinds of meats are served, often alongside injera, a flatbread from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Doro Wot or Tsebhi Doro is one of the traditional chicken and onion dishes served during this time of feasting.
Ingredients
2 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp ghee/sunflower oil
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 boneless chicken thighs
Chicken stock
4 large onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
6cm piece of fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp Berbere spice blend
1 tbsp Korrarima spice (Ethiopian Black cardamom)
2 hard-boiled eggs
Method
- Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and pour over the lemon juice. Leave at room temperature for at least 30 minutes to tenderise the meat.
- Heat the ghee and olive oil in a thick-bottomed pan. Add the chopped onion and cook with the lid on over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook, covered, for another 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and if it sticks to the pan, add a bit of water.
- Add the Berbere spice and Korrarima spice and leave covered, over low heat for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the chicken with enough stock to cover. Bring to the boil and then turn the heat down to low. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning, adding more Berbere according to heat preference. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add the boiled eggs and simmer on a low heat with the lid on for another 5 minutes.
- Half the eggs and arrange on the plates with the stew. Serve with injera, bread or rice.
Recipe credit 1 | Recipe credit 2
Kleicha from Iraq
In Iraq, it is traditional to give bread to the poor on Easter day. Women and children also dye eggs red and yellow to symbolise joy and hope.
During the week leading up to Easter day, Christians and Muslims prepare sweet treats for the feast of Alklejeh. One of these sweet treats is kleicha, an Iraqi date cookie.
Ingredients
For the dough:
100g ground almonds
140g rice flour (or you can use wholemeal spelt flour)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
80ml coconut oil, melted
80ml milk of choice
For the date filling:
250g soft dates
120ml water + more if needed
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom
Pinch of salt
Sesame seeds to top
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan
- Start with the filling – add the dates and water to a pan and cook over a low-medium heat while mashing the dates with the back of a wooden spoon. Continue adding water until you have a smooth, but thick and sticky mixture.
- In a large bowl, mix the ground almonds, rice flour, salt and spices together.
- Add the melted coconut and milk and mix to form a dough*
- Divide the dough in half, then roll out each piece into a rectangle (28cm x 18cm) on 2 pieces of baking paper. Then spread the date filling over the dough leaving the edges clear.
- Start rolling – take one side of the dough and use the parchment paper to roll it into a log.
- Freeze the logs for half an hour to make them easier to slice.
- Slice into 1.5cm thick pieces. Then transfer them to a baking sheet and sprinkle the sesame seeds on top.
- Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Leave to cool completely, then enjoy!
* If the dough is too soft, put in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to make it easier to roll
If you decide to make anything from above, we'd love to see photos! You can share them on social media and tag us @boaztrust (Instagram & Twitter) or @theboaztrust (Facebook) so we can see what you've made!
