Today I am sharing the recipe of unripe jackfruit with gravy. Jackfruits are the largest tropical fruit that grow on trees. Jackfruits has been used for cooking different dishes in many cuisines. Unripe jackfruit curry is basically a very spicy side dish.

Jackfruits are consumed in both form ripe and unripe but when jack fruit is unripe or raw; it can only be consumed after cooking it. Ripped jackefruits are sweet in taste whilst unripe jackfruits are very mild. You can buy unripe jackfruits from local vendors easily in India and many also sell cut and peeled jackfruit. Peeling and cutting unripe jackfruit is very tricky and messy thing to get your hands in, I advice you to buy priorly peeled and cut jackfruit. Jackfruits can be peeled and cut after applying good amount of oil in your palms but still it’s a very messy task to do. I don’t recommend peeling and cutting unripe jackfruit on your own.

Buying peeled and cut jackfruits instead of buying a whole big jackfruit will not only save your time and labour but you can also buy the amount you want to cook. Another option is, you can get canned unripe jackfruit from grocery shops or from online stores, just in case unripe jackfruits are not available at local vendors shop.

 

           Jackfruits are not just tasty option for side dish or just a tasty fruit but also very healthy. Jackfruits are good source of vitamin C and vitamin B6 and potassium. It was last year when I learnt to make this unripe green jackfruit curry, I was not sure how it will turn out but everyone loved it and I was very pleased with my mom’s response. My mom is not so found of raw jackfruit side dishes but she loved it and what else I can ask for! My mom is best cook for me and she liked the recipe, it means a lot to me.

 

           This recipe requires some time for preparation even if you can get cut and peeled jackfruit. So when you plan to try this recipe, make sure you have enough time and patience. You also need a few spices for this recipe but you can use spice mix available in the market. I normally use garam masala (garam masala is a spice mix in which black and white peppercorns, clove, cinnamon, bay leaf, black and green cardamom, nutmeg, cumin seeds are slightly dry roasted and mixed in a powder form)  along with general spices that we use for vegetable side dishes. Spices are used only to add flavour to the gravy and jackfruit, you can use moderate amount of any spices along with garam masala. Now let’s get to the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

This will make for 4 servings.

Unripe jackfruit peeled and cut in pieces – 250 grams,

Pureed tomatoes – 3,

Onion – 2,

Ginger – 2 inches,

Garlic cloves – 3,

Desiccated coconut – 2 tablespoon,

Turmeric powder – 2 teaspoon,

Coriander powder – 3 teaspoon,

Garam masala – 2 teaspoon,

Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon,

Mustard seeds – 1 teaspoon,

Black pepper – 1 teaspoon,

Dry red chilli – 2,

Oil – as required (I mostly use 3 or 2 & half tablespoon, Depends on the stickiness of jackfruit pieces)

Salt – 1 & a half tablespoon or according to your taste.

 

Method:

1. Make a paste of onion, garlic and ginger and keep aside.

2. Dunk jackfruit pieces in clean water and strain immediately.

3. Heat oil in a pan, add jackfruit and sprinkle some salt and cook till they turn slightly golden and get soft and textured, keep aside.

4. Again heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Once mustard seed starts to crackle, add red chilli, coriander powder and turmeric powder, black pepper, desiccated coconut and mix with ladle.

5. Now add onion, ginger, garlic paste in the pan and let it cook for some time, keep stirring.

6. Add the tomato puree in the pan, once onion, ginger, and garlic paste starts to turn pink and looks cooked. Add salt and cook till rawness of tomato leaves and the colour of gravy changes to reddish brown.

7. Add cooked jackfruit into the gravy and mix well. Let the jackfruit get cooked with gravy covered with lid so that all the flavours can get infuse inside jackfruit pieces.

8. Lastly add garam masala and mix well and turn of the flame.

 

Tips:

1. Don’t let jackfruit sit in water for more than a minute when you rinse, letting it sit in water will make jackfruit pieces very sticky.

2. taste the gravy, once tomato puree gets cooked and adjust the spices and salt.

3. Don’t add salt at once in the gravy; add some salt when roasting the jackfruit.

4. while roasting the jackfruit with oil, you can add some water if you feel even after turning golden jackfruit pieces are not cooked properly.

5. You can deep fry jackfruit pieces instead of salo frying.

6. Do not add garam masala with other spices. Garam masala get slightly bitter in taste when cooked with gravy therefore add garam masala just before turning of the flame. Also adding too much garam masala can overpower the taste of jackfruit and other spices.

7. Seeds of jackfruits are also edible.

 

                                      Jackfruit curry goes hand in hand with naan but it can also be served with plain boiled rice, jeera rice, puris, paratha or with any other flat bread. Jackfruit curry is a very spicy dish and those who don’t like spicy dishes can opt for other simple variants or just skip the extra spices and make it with simple gravy. If jackfruit is not available and you still want to make this recipe, then use paneer or potato or mashrooms in place of jackfruit.