Friday 26 / April / 2024
JACKFRUIT CUTLETS
In a pan, take 2 tablespoons oil. Once hot, add 1/2 cup of finely chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger, 2 green chillies, chopped, 1 sprig of curry leaves and salt. Sauté it till the onion turns tender. Now add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon garam masala and give it a stir. Add 2 cups of cooked jackfruit, shredded/minced and 1 cup of mashed potatoes to it. Mix it and cook it for 2 minutes. Once the mix cools down a little, make small balls and shape them into cutlets. Heat oil in a pan and once hot, turn down the heat to medium low. In a bowl, take 2 tablespoons all purpose flour and add water to it to form a batter which should not be too thick nor too runny. Dip each cutlet into it and roll it in 1 cup of bread crumbs and shallow fry, till a nice brown colour. Serve it hot with some ketchup.
JACKFRUIT HALWA
For preparing jackfruit halwa, first mince 2kg ripe jackfruit pieces in a mincer. Take a flat thick bottomed pan and heat 1kg sugar and 4 cups water. Add minced jackfruit and stir continuously. Add 125g ghee when the halwa thickens. When the mixture can be rolled into a ball, turn the contents into a greased dish. Smoothen the top surface with a spoon. When the jackfruit halwa has cooled down, cut into pieces and store in an airtight vessel.
QUICK JACKFRUIT SABZI
Cut jackfruit into 2 halves using a sharp knife. Then cut each half into 4 pieces. Pressure cook with enough water for 3 whistles. Cut this cooked jackfruit into small pieces about 2 cups. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, when it splutters, add a sprig of curry leaves and 2 medium size chopped onions. Sauté onions until it turns transparent. Add 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder, 3/4-1 teaspoon chilli powder, cooked jackfruit and salt to taste. Cook for a few minutes till the spices are aromatic and combine well. Then remove from heat and garnish with finely chopped coriander leaves.
BENGALI RAW JACKFRUIT CURRY
Cut 400g raw jackfruit or echor into small cubes. Remove the thick outer covering surrounding the seeds in the middle and discard. Don’t peel the outer covering too much. You can also buy the canned raw jackfruit. Wash the cubed jackfruit and boil them with some salt for 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the water and keep aside.
Heat 4-6 tablespoons oil in a pan. When the oil is heated, add 3 green cardamoms, 2” cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, and 2 bay leaves. When they start releasing a beautiful aroma, add 2 sliced onions into the pan. Fry them for a while on medium to high flame. Then add 1 tablespoon grated ginger and 1 tablespoon grated garlic, fry them until the raw smell of garlic has gone. Meanwhile, add salt and 1 teaspoon turmeric powder. Cook for 5 minutes. Add 2 potato cubes and cook for another 5 minutes. Now add the boiled jackfruit pieces into the pan and cook for a while. Add 1/2 teaspoon cumin powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder and 1 teaspoon red chilli powder. Mix everything well and cook for 5-7 minutes on low to medium flame. Add water into the pan. Stir and cover with a lid for 10 minutes. Keep the flame on low. After 10 minutes, put off the lid and give a good stir. Add 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ghee. Stir well. Lastly add 1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder. Give a stir and switch off the flame.
JACKFRUIT PUDDING
Remove the seeds of 12 jack fruit pieces and take the fruit alone in a bowl. Chop and pressure cook with 1/4 cup of water till it’s soft and cooked. Let it cool down completely and mash it. Add 1 cup jaggery with 1/2 cup of water in a heavy bottom pan. Once it starts boiling and jaggery has melted, remove from the gas stove and strain the water to remove the impurities. Keep the jaggery water aside. Add 1 grated coconut and 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water in your grinder and blitz it for few seconds. Strain it through a thin muslin cloth to extract the coconut milk. The first lot will be thick milk; keep it aside in a separate container. Now again add the squeezed coconut with 1 and 1/2 cups warm water in your grinder and blitz it and extract the second cup of coconut milk and keep this separately. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee and fry 10 cashew nuts and 10 raisins on low flame till it turns light golden brown and remove it from the pan. Now add 1 tablespoon fresh coconut pieces finely chopped and fry till light golden brown. Add the jack fruit pulp along with jaggery water in a heavy bottom pan along with 1 tablespoon ghee. Once it starts boiling lower the flame and cook till it thickens. Keep stirring. Add the second coconut milk and boil for few minutes. Now add the first cup of coconut milk and mix it well. Remove from the flame and add 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder. Do not over boil after adding coconut milk again. Garnish with fried cashew nuts, raisins and coconut pieces. You can serve it hot or chilled.—[email protected]
