Have you tasted raw jackfruit in a curry before? I have tried it before however this was my first time cooking it. I’ve heard from some of my meat loving friends that the texture is similar to pulled pork, I wouldn’t know as I have not tried pulled pork myself.

To keep it simple, I’ve used canned jackfruit here as the thought of starting from scratch and cutting into a whole raw jackfruit seemed too intimidating! I’ve always eaten them ripe but I’m told the only way to eat a jackfruit raw is by cooking it 🙂

This recipe works well with some steamed rice, I paired it with some hot red rice that is native to the coastal region of the states of Karnataka & Kerala in India. Their local names are Jolaga, Rajamudi, Kemp Akki in Karnataka and Matta Rice in Kerala

Prep time: 15 mins                                           Cook time: 25mins

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of cooked/ canned raw jackfruit
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon of back peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon of mustard
• 2-3 cloves
• 4-5 dried red chilies
• 30 grams of grated fresh/ frozen coconut
• 1 red onion
• 10 grams of fresh ginger
• 3-4 tablespoons of oil
• salt to taste
• 5 grams of jaggery
• 5 grams of tamarind
• 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves

Start by boiling the tomatoes in plain water until the skin separates, once cooled peel the skin and keep aside. Chop the onion.

In a pan, dry roast the spices – black peppercorns, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, red chilies and the grated coconut till slightly toasted and fregrant

Then using a blender grind the spices with coconut, tamarind, boiled/ peeled tomatoes, ginger and jaggery by adding very little warm water water (50ml)  into a fine paste

To a thick bottom utensil, add oil, once hot add mustard seeds, cloves and curry leaves and as they splutter, put in the chopped onion and saute till translucent. sprinkle some salt this will draw out the moisture and help cook the onions faster

Then add in the masala paste from the blender and on a low heat bring to a boil, add a little water at this stage depending on how thick or thin you would like the curry. I recommend not more than 150ml of water.  saute and boil for about 5-7 minutes on low heat.

Then add the canned/ cooked jackfruit and salt to taste. Do a quick taste check here – ensure that all the five flavours are well balanced – heat/ spiciness, sour, salt, bitter & sweet.

Boil for another 5 mins and turn the heat off.

Serve hot with steamed rice – even better with red rice I think! Try it and let me know what you think 🙂

Enjoy!

Tip: Remember that grinding the initial masala paste fine is key to this curry!