This is a blog to discuss fasting through Great Lent from a Greek Orthodox perspective. With recipes, pictures, photographs, religious information appropriate for children and families, we are trying to offer a common person's way of observing Great Lent for the forty days.
Palm Sunday indicates that in one week, we will be celebrating the Resurrection! It also indicates the second time during Great Lent that we can consume fish. When we went to Church for our palms (see the laurel leaves to the right of the plate), we also were treated to a lovely salmon luncheon prepared by the Ladies Auxiliary group, known as Philoptochos in a city just north of Toronto, Canada.
Many churches offer a Lenten luncheon on the two days that we consume fish -- Annunciation (March 25th) and Palm Sunday. But, there were a few points about this one that made it notable for us. First, the choice of salmon as the entree was unique. Typically, in Greek culture, cod or salt cod (bakalao) is served. With the fried salt cod, a serving of skordalia (garlic sauce) is the standard accompaniment. And, with the salmon, we were served skordalia (small cup on the right of the plate). Salmon went surprisingly well with the baked salmon. That could be because we love skordalia, or it could be that the salmon was cooked so perfectly, that having a creamy garlic sauce to top the fish seemed like a very natural pairing -- together, they were delightful. The vegetables were cooked just under al dente, which, for some of us is preferable, and the rice was flavourful. This was served with a salad, dinner rolls, and water.
But, then, came the surprise dessert. Often, with a cup of coffee at church, there may be a pita, or a koulouri, but today was truly special. Several of the ladies of Philptochos prepared loukoumades. We know these were hand made because they were not the small, uniform balls that we can buy at the bakery for $12 Canadian per kilo (or about $5 Canadian per pound). These were light, fluffy, and coated lightly in syrup and sprinkled with a touch of cinnamon. These were clearly homemade. And, loukoumades seemed like the perfect ending to a delightful Palm Sunday luncheon.
We had good food, good dessert, and most importantly, we had good company for our Palm Sunday luncheon. Regardless of the food, the parea can make any gathering special and memorable. Such wonderful enrichment makes us ready to face the week!
We like Indian food. There are a few restaurants around Toronto that we really enjoy, we know and trust, even though there are so many more from which to choose. Sometimes, we are creatures of habit. And, today was one of those days when we really wanted that little bit of spice, that lingering scent, and the sauciness of most menu items. But, we asked ourselves, "Why don't we eat at Indian restaurants during Great Lent, even though much of the food is vegetarian?" Our answer was this: In many dishes of Indian cuisine, the food is made with Ghee, a butter product (animal), but we would not know which ones those were. So, we found another solution.
There are several ethnic markets near us, and one of them we frequent to buy beans, pulses, and legumes. It is an Indian Suraby (meaning store). Sometimes, we find more interesting things to buy, like some rare vegetable or fruit, or even a mix that will make one of the dishes that we enjoy. That was our luck today! We found a dried spice mix to make Chana Masala, also known as Curried Chick Peas. We read the ingredients to make sure that there was no ghee in the list, and then, we spent the $1.59 to buy the box and try it. The box came with two sealed envelopes, each capable of making enough channa masala for at least two people; the spice mixture, in other words, is very affordable.
There were actually two choices to buy, this one in a box, and another that came in a spice shaker. They seemed to have the similar ingredients and directions. It was not easy to decide which one to buy. We ended up buying the spice shaker, too, figuring we should try that one and see which one of these we like more, and then, keep one on hand for these moments when chana masala is the only food that will satisfy. We are focusing on the box because of the thorough directions on the back of the package.
When we read the directions, and how clear they were, we realised that this could be a quick and easy vegan meal. If we used vegetable oil instead of butter or ghee, we would meet the Orthodox guidelines for fasting. We would find out how easy or difficult it would be to make a dish that we like so much, and decide if our $1.59 was well spent. And, here is what we learned:
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1 onion, diced fine
2-3 TBSP oil
1 large can (24 ounces) chick peas
Chana Masala spice mix
some water
When you make this the first time, you may want to follow the directions on the package, then, make adjustments in the future. We believe that each brand of this spice mix may have differences in the directions and the ingredients, so what we provide here is specific to the Shan Chana Masala spice mix.
Start by cutting the onion into a fine dice. The onion pieces should not be bigger than the chick peas. When we have had this dish in the restaurants, the onions sort of disappear into the sauce, so they should be rather small in order to cook away. Once the onions are cut, you can start cooking them in the oil on a medium to medium high heat. You want them to become soft with a little bit of browning. This will take about 10 minutes, so start the onions cooking before the next step.
Now, drain and rinse the chick peas. The canned peas are in a salty brine, and that needs to be rinsed rather well so not to interfere with the spices we will add. It is true that some people will like this a little salty, and if that is true, don't rinse the peas as well. We rinsed and drained the water to get the chick peas as bland as possible. If you are using dried chick peas, boil them with 1 tsp baking soda in the water, until the peas are soft. Then, drain and rinse the peas, and set them aside for a moment.
Now, it is time to season the dish! Use approximately 2 Tablespoons of the chana masala spice mix. Sprinkle the spice mix all around the onions and mix well. Add a little more for a little more spicy dish, or add less mix for less spice. Mix the onions well so they are all coated with the spices.
Now, add the chick peas to the pan with the onions. Mix them well so the onions and chick peas are well coated in the spice mix.
Then, add water. Add enough water to cover the tops of the chick peas. This amount will vary depending on the size of your pan or pot, and the quantity of chick peas used. The water should scantly cover the peas.
Allow this to cook on medium to medium low heat to simmer for 40 minutes. As it simmers, you will notice the sauce thickens. This is what you want! Some of the onions will disappear (dissolve) in the sauce, but you will still see many of the onions. Canned chick peas are already cooked, so you will know the dish is done when the sauce is the thickness you want or the table is set and it is ready to serve then. We thought he 40 minutes seemed very long for already cooked peas, but it was necessary to get the consistency in the sauce. If you want to speed up the process, add less water to the mix. That way, you are not waiting for the water to cook away.
Serve this over some basmati rice (or any rice you like) or with a pita bread (naan if you want to be more authentic). And, enjoy!
Palm Sunday (2014) service, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church - Oak Lawn, IL Source of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZdY6i1pdBM
The term "patty" often refers to a shape, but it does not always mean that the product has a smooth or that the food is round. In this case, these are cookies, but they are called patties. Perhaps it is because they are filled like a meat patty. And, the filling process is similar, but these are Lenten treats.
When we thought about raisin filling for a cookie, we knew the cookie would not be too sweet, which would compensate for the sweetness of the raisins. But, when we read the ingredient list, it seemed there would be some deep and complex flavours to enhance the raisins. So, we set out to make raisin patties. We had about 3 dozen cookies when this was all done.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
dough:
2 cups oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup cognac (we used Greek Metaxa brandy)
1 TBSP orange zest
1 TBSP baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 kilo flour
First, make the dough. Blend the oil, sugar, and orange zest in a bowl. You can mix by hand or by machine. We chose by hand because it was a small batch. If we were to make double the recipe or more, we would use a machine.
Dissolve the baking powder in the cognac. Let this stand for a moment while you complete the next step. You will notice how thick the cognac becomes with the baking powder.
Dissolve the baking soda in the orange juice. The juice will become foamy. Now, add the cognac and the orange juice to the oil/sugar mixture and mix well.
Now, start adding the flour to the bowl. Add the flour a cup at a time and mix it well each time. You want to add enough flour to get a soft dough. The dough will be soft like an oily play-dough. We were actually a little surprised with how oily the dough was. Allow this to sit and rest while you make the filling.
For the filling, put the ingredients into a food processor. You could probably chop all of this by hand, but it can be difficult to chop raisins, so we found a small food processor made this very easy. We put the nuts, raisins, lemon zest, ground clove, and ground cinnamon in the food processor and used the pulse function about 10 times. Pulse or chop enough to have small pieces of raisin and nut that still have some texture. You want to be able to feel the texture of the filling, not make a paste.
Once the filling is made, it is time to assemble the patties.
Pinch off small balls of the dough, so they are equal in size. Of course, the smaller the piece, the more cookies you will make. Each pinch should give you a walnut sized ball of dough. Roll this in your hand to make a ball. The dough does not have to be smooth.
Put your finger in the middle of the dough ball and make an indent. This is the space for the filling. Then, using a spoon, put the filling into the indentation. Try to keep the filling in the centre, so it does not make a messy edge.
Now, fold the edges over the filling and pinch closed the seam. This will look kind of football shaped when you are done. Arrange the cookies on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet, making sure that the seam side of the patty is face down on the parchment paper.
Once all the patties are formed and arranged, sprinkle sugar on the top of the raw cookies. Bake these in the oven at 375º F (175º C) for 10-20 minutes (times vary depending on the oven). The raisin patties will turn a light golden brown colour, and when they move freely on the parchment paper, they are done. You will also be able to see the granules of white sugar on top of the golden brown cookies. Our raisin patties took 16 minutes to bake. Allow the cookies to cool completely before serving.
When you bite into one of these raisin patties, you may be reminded of a personal mincemeat pie. The dough is not very sweet, but the filling is. And, the sprinkled sugar on top adds just enough sweetness to make you believe that you are eating a mini cake, even though this is a cookie. Serve with coffee, tea, or a beverage of your choice, and enjoy.
""But I say to you," the Lord says, "love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute you." Why did he command these things? So that he might free you from hatred, sadness, anger and grudges, and might grant you the greatest possession of all, perfect love, which is impossible to possess except by the one who loves all equally in imitation of God."
