Photo by Jason Jarrach
As we know, Spring holds some joyous occasions and sacred practices in our various traditions like: Ostara, Ramadan, Pesach, Holy week (Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday & Resurrection Sunday, the latter of which is also known as Easter), Ridván, Beltane and more. During these observances, families & faith communities may gather at some point and share a special meal. These meals enable us to stay connected to one another and our traditions, and oftentimes, there are traditional dishes or symbolic foods to be served during these special times that hold significance. We reached out to The Church Lab interfaith dialogue community to find out some of their favorite dishes for this time of year! Sharing some of our favorite foods lets us get a glimpse into people’s history and their culture, and allows us to connect in authentic ways. We’re excited to share some of these Spring favorites from the TCL community!
Easter Candy & Fatherly Love
Eileen is one of our Christian dialoguers in the TCL interfaith community and shares about a special treat that her father would lovingly share with his daughters around Easter. “My family does not have any special foods for Easter except for Whopper Eggs and Robin Eggs, haha! My dad would buy them every Easter and would share his stash with my sisters and I. We loved them and looked forward to them every year! Whopper and Robin Eggs only come around once a year so they are a special treat. The fact that my dad was generous with his sweets is also a fond memory.”
When asked about favorite traditions for this time of year in her worshiping community and corresponding sacred texts, Eileen shares, “I love going to church on Easter. I dress very nicely on Easter and sing joyful worship songs about Jesus rising from the dead and defeating death. I also love all the glorious flowers at church during Easter! At my planting church, we would have a BBQ right after church and everyone was invited. Easter is one of my most favorite days of the year because it is so glorious in what it symbolizes to me. If my mom is not working, we might go out to eat for lunch or have a nice meal at home. My grandparents just moved to the greater Austin area, so I am hoping we get to do some Easter traditions with them.”
Eileen also shared some of her favorite Bible Verses about Easter: Matthew 27: 50-54 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people. When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Isaiah 53:5 "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
Mark 16:6-7 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’"
Ramaddan Iftar & Pakoras
Bushra Zafar, a beloved Ahmadiyya Muslim dialoguer in the TCL interfaith community shares her favorite go-to dish to break the fast during Ramadan!
Photo by Nagi on RecipeTinEats
If you wake up in the middle of the night and see a house all lit up don’t be alarmed, it’s probably a Muslim household up at pre-dawn to start their fast. The Muslim fast requires a pre-dawn meal and then the whole day to be spent in the remembrance of God Almighty and recitation of the Quran to increase our understanding of our purpose on this Earth. The fast is broken at sunset. This is a general guideline, but Islam being a religion of ease there are exceptions to the rules where applicable. For example, those who are sick or women who are pregnant or breastfeeding are exempted from the requirement to fast. Travelers are also exempted. However, if they are staying at a place for longer than a few days, and are able to fast then they should do so. If one misses the fast for any reason, they are supposed to compensate by feeding a person, and also completing the missed amount at another time in the year before next Ramadan. As much as people understand fasting as a ritual of starving and feeding, it is much more than just starving our bodies for a time and then filling it with copious amounts of fried stuff. It is also about community and charity and self-control not just on hunger, but also on anger. As I have grown older, I have come to associate this time with a chance to reset the record so to speak in your life. It is a time to come clean in front of God and His creation. Finding balance between the two because it is in that balance that life is worth living.
“O ye who believe! fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may become righteous.” (Quran 2-184)
The root word “Ramad” in the name “Ramadan” means burning. It alludes to the human condition during fasting in this month which causes heat and burning due to thirst; worship and devotion in this month burns away the traces of sin in man, thus producing in the heart of man the necessary warmth of love for his Creator and compassion for his fellow beings.
I remember as a child as we all sat around the table during morning “Sehr” time and how as soon as we’d hear the Muezzin start the call to prayer, we would hurriedly finish our meal and get the last drink of water just as the last words were uttered. Then at sunset again I would be tasked with standing outside (perhaps because I was a fast runner) so that as soon as I hear the Muezzin turn on his microphone and say Allahu Akbar (God is the Greatest) even if it was a faint voice coming from a distant mosque to run screaming, “break the fast! break the fast!” As a kid I was not supposed to fast so my mom seeing how much I also wanted to partake in this ritual would tell us that as kids you can keep 2 fasts in a day, and would feed us lunch in the middle; we called it “chirri roza” meaning small fast.
Breaking the fast or Iftar with a date was a practice of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and Muslims try to emulate his actions by doing the same. In South Asia another staple for Iftar time is what is known as “pakora” or a fried gram flour dumpling. In our own household any day pakoras are made is a day of much celebration. It is my go-to on days I find myself out of menu options or will to cook a more time-consuming dish. My recipe for pakoras is below, but there are many items that are optional and a simpler dumpling can be had if anyone so chooses.
Ingredients:
Gram flour 1cup (sifted)
Salt to taste (3/4 to 1 tsp)
Red pepper powder (1/2 tsp for mild 3/4 to 1 tsp for hot)
Cumin seeds (2 tsp)
Baking soda (1 or 2 pinch)
(This is all you need for a simple dumpling. Mix this in water to make smooth batter but not very runny and deep-frying small spoonful’s in oil pre-heated at medium heat)
Onion 1/2 finely chopped
Potatoes 1 or 2 depending on size, again cut in very fine fries shape
Spinach finely chopped 1 or 2 cups (Can use cilantro to add some green if out of spinach)
Green chilies 2 to 3 chopped (optional)
Dried pomegranate seeds 15 to 20 (optional)
Directions:
Mix the batter with just the dry ingredients and water before adding onions, potatoes and spinach.
Photo by Bushra Zafar
The thicker the batter the better, as onions and potatoes will bring moisture to it also.
Photo by Bushra Zafar
Once all of these ingredients are mixed up you will fry spoonful’s of this batter in preheated oil, turning over from time to time until golden brown all around. Don’t worry if each dumpling comes out looking differently, we love diversity :)