Ladle, Brush & Spade: Tender Jackfruit curry

“Kadgi” is the Konkani word for tender Jackfruit. In Hindi, it is known as “Kathal”. This is a seasonal vegetable and generally found in the south and coastal regions of India. In southern India you will find Jackfruit trees in almost everybody’s backyard. This “Kadgi” is home grown (no – not in my balcony garden! but in our apartment premises) and hence this “Kadgi Chakko” had more value and tasted absolutely delicious!

We “Amchis” (Konkani speaking) simply adore our “Kadgis” and when it ripens, the fruit (Ponos) too. We prepare a variety of dishes from this wonderful vegetable. In fact, we relish this vegetable in any form of curry. But “Kadgi Chakko” comes on top of the list. This is a very traditional "Amchi" dish. I used only half of this vegetable to prepare the “Chakko”. The other half I used in "Mooga Ghashi" (Sprouted Gram and Kadgi curry) and an “Upkari”. Cutting this vegetable is tedious, messy and takes time but eating it, is easy, quick and delicious – no problem at all!!

I must mention here, that my spouse helped me in cutting this “kadgi” and thus saved a lot of my time.

Ingredients:

Tender Jackfruit	1
Coconut gratings	1 cup
Roasted Dry red chilies	5-6
Coriander seeds	3 tsps
Black Gram Dhal/Udad Dal	2 tsps
Tamarind	1 marble size
Jaggery powder	2 tsps
Salt	As per taste
Seasoning Ingredients
Oil	5-6 tsps
Mustard	1 tsp
Curry leaves	1 sprig

How to cut the “Kadgi” / Tender Jackfruit :


All set to be demolished


Cut into half

Cut into pieces - ready for steaming

Before you start cutting the vegetable, spread a lot of newspaper and keep a bottle of oil ready. We generally use coconut oil. You can use any oil of your choice. Apply oil on your palms and the kitchen knife and wear an apron. As soon as you cut the vegetable, it oozes a lot of gooey substance which is very sticky and can also stain your clothes. Hence, remove the gooey substance with newspaper taking care that your hands are well smeared with oil (you may have to do this frequently). Then remove the skin and the shaft inside. Then cut them into medium size pieces along with the seeds which are tender. Once this is done, you are ready for preparing the “Chakko” or curry.

Just for your info, the cutting of ripened jackfruit (Ponos) is also done in a somewhat similar fashion. I have already written about this in my earlier post. If interested, you may see it here.

Method:

Cut the “Kadgi’ into medium size pieces and and pressure cook it for about 15 mins. You can also cook it in water in which case, do not throw away the excess water.
Next roast coriander seeds and black gram dal /udad dal with a little oil till lightly browned and keep it aside.
Now grind coconut gratings, roasted red chilies and the roasted black gram and coriander seeds with tamarind to a stiff coarse paste.
Prepare seasoning in a pan with oil, mustard seeds and curry leaves. As soon as the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the cooked pieces of tender jackfruit.
Next add salt, jaggery and the ground masala and mix well. Sprinkle a little water if necessary. (If you have boiled the jackfruit pieces in water, then you can add the water at this stage). Let it simmer for a few minutes till all the masala has been incorporated.
Remove from flame and serve hot.