Bright Sunday of Christ, or Easter, is the main church holiday of the Orthodox calendar. And nothing else evokes such vivid associations as dyed eggs or, as the people say, “crayons”, which traditionally stand in the center of the festive table.
The easiest way to color eggs is with food coloring, but synthetic additives can cause allergies and other unpleasant consequences. Onion skin dyeing is the easiest and most popular method of dyeing Easter eggs with natural pigment. Easter eggs of a rich red-brown hue have already become an integral tradition in Orthodox families on the Bright Sunday of Christ.
With the help of onion peel, you can get a wide variety of amazing shades, and a few simple steps will help you understand this simple process.
Step-by-step recipe
The process of dyeing Easter eggs with onion peel according to the classic recipe does not require special skills. You can get unique and different combinations if you use both white and brown eggs when painting. Today, following current fashion trends, coloring quail eggs is becoming increasingly popular. Such a diverse palette of eggs will perfectly fit into the simplicity and modest decoration of the festive table.
With chef Iosif Krichevsky we understand all the intricacies of the egg dyeing process.
Step 1. Choosing an onion peel
The color of the eggs will depend on which husk you choose. If you dye the eggs with white onion peel, the color will turn out to be a dark orange hue. Red onions will give the eggs a burgundy hue. You can mix several types of husks – this will add color variations to the color of the shell.
Step 2. Preparing the Ingredients
For coloring, you will need 12 hard-boiled eggs, husks of 12 onions, 1 liter of water, 3 tablespoons of white vinegar to fix the coloring pigment, vegetable or olive oil, a large saucepan (preferably stainless steel, which is easier to clean from paint), a sieve, a spoon and dry wipes.
Step 3 Cooking the Eggs
Remove the eggs from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking to bring them to room temperature. If they are not pre-prepared, then during the cooking process the shell may crack, and when stained, dye will get into the gap, coloring the egg.
Once the eggs are warmed, dip them in cold salted water and bring to a boil. Boil the eggs for 8-10 minutes after the water starts to boil, that is, hard boiled, and then cool to room temperature. Now the eggs are ready for painting.
Step 4. Boiling the mixture for coloring
Onion peel should be insisted for half an hour in a saucepan with cold water. Then add vinegar to this container, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for another half hour. Cool the resulting mixture to room temperature.
Step 5. Painting the eggs
If you want to achieve a uniform color, then strain the mixture through a sieve. If you want to get a marble and unusual pattern, then the husk can be left. Now gently lower each egg into the liquid on a spoon so that the mixture completely covers it. You can add water if the prepared solution is not enough. After this, the eggs in the pan must be infused for at least an hour, and the more they are infused, the brighter the final color will be. When the eggs have acquired the shade you want, take them out with a spoon and put them on dry napkins.
Step 6. Feeding
After the eggs have dried and cooled to room temperature, brush them with vegetable or olive oil. To do this, treat dry wipes with oil and polish the eggshell to a shine. Ready eggs can be laid out in a beautiful dish and served at the table.
Chef’s Tips
Chef Iosif Krychevsky shared a few tips that will help decorate the Easter table in a non-standard way and surprise guests with its colorful decoration.
- According to the chef, Easter eggs look best when placed on fresh grass, lettuce or straw. As a dish, you can use a bowl loved by many, the serving in which looks concise and aesthetically pleasing.
- The process of dyeing quail eggs has the same technology as chicken, however, it is worth considering a few important points. Before readiness, quail eggs cook faster, so 5 minutes is enough to boil them hard-boiled. Also, unlike chicken eggs, quail eggs will not burst if they are immediately lowered into boiling water.
Popular questions and answers
We will answer popular questions about how to dye eggs with onion peel at home in order to understand all the intricacies of this process.
What are the options for an unusual decor for Easter eggs?
Another interesting method is to scratch the pattern with a thin needle or awl. Among the people, eggs decorated in this way have long been called drapanki.
By dripping hot wax on boiled eggs before dyeing, you can get a simple polka dot pattern. Such eggs were called specks.