“We must learn to let go as easily as we embrace or we will find our hands are full but our hearts are empty.” – Leo Buscaglia
In a beautiful old Portuguese house by the river in Goa, there stayed a lovely couple who not just opened their house to strangers but also their hearts.
I love Jackfruit. I have some really fond memories attached to this vegetable/fruit. I grew up at a farm where it grew in abundance and my grandmother and mother would make all sorts of preparations with it including pickles. I recently wrote a piece on Jackfruit and how it is eaten across India for The Goya Journal, read it here.
In this post I am sharing two of my favourite recipes – Jackfruit or Kathal ke Kofte and Kathal Stir Fried with Besan. Both the recipes use tender jackfruit.
Jackfruit Kofta
Ingredients
For kofta
Tender jackfruit – 500 gms (peeled and cut)
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Mustard oil – for deep frying
For curry
Onions – 2 large
Tomatoes – 2 large
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Garam masala – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilly powder – 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Green coriander for garnish
Method
1. Place the jackfruit in a pressure cooker, add water and pressure cook for 10-12 mins or till the jackfruit is tender.
2. Drain out the water and let the jackfruit cool down.
3. Mash the jackfruit with hands or blend in the mixer to make fine paste. Season with red chilli powder, turmeric and salt.
4. Heat oil in a wok, make small balls of jackfruit paste and deep fry them till crisp.
5. For curry remove all the oil from the wok and leave 2 tbsp
6. Fry onion paste in this oil till it turns brown and starts leaving oil on the sides.
7. Throw in ginger-garlic paste and tomato puree and fry for another 15 minutes.
8. Add garam masala, turmeric, red chilli powder and fry for another 5 minutes.
9. Add water (about 2 1/2 cups) to get the curry like consistensy.
10. Add salt, cover the wok and let it cook for 10 minutes.
11. Place the koftas in a bowl and pour the gravy over them right before serving.
12. Garnish with green coriander and serve with plain rice.
Jackfruit Stir-Fried with Besan
Ingredients
Tender jackfruit – 500 gms (peeled and cut)
Besan (Bengalgram flour) – 2 tbsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Amchoor (dry mango) powder – 1 tsp
Hing (asafoetida) – a pinch
Mustard oil – t tbsp
Salt to taste
Method
1. Pressure cook jackfruit for 10-12 minutes
2. Heat oil in a pan and add hing to it.
3. Throw in boiled jackfruit and fry till it turns crisp.
4. Mix besan, red chilli powder, amchoor, turmeric powder and salt. Sprinkle this mix over besan and fry further till the besan is completely roasted.
5. Serve with parathas or dal-chawal.
Food styling and photography – Amrita Kaur
There are some things you can’t share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Two Tuesdays ago when I was driving home from Lucknow airport with my father, I saw a few pandals on the road serving food. My dad, whose love for pooris and kachauris is not a secret, suddenly had a happy grin on his face, “I am getting the aroma of pooris being fried,” he said. While I had a confused look on my face, dad went on to tell me the story behind these pandals and the story of Bada Mangal.
Last year I travelled to Japan and I still wonder what made me pick such a difficult country for my first international trip. Difficult not because of food (I love Japanese food), difficult because the communication there isn’t easy. I got some help from friends as I was planning the trip but most of the stuff I learned while I was there. In the past few months a few friends and acquaintances reached out to me asking questions about my Japan trip. So here’s a list of QnA that I have created based on those questions. It’s purely based on my experience and research. I was in Japan for 10 days and travelled to Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto. There were a lot of things I wish I knew before hand, but then you always learn from your mistakes. I hope these questions help you in planning your trip.
