Tag: jackfruit

Jackfruit seed Pakoras ( kanthaler bichier bora)

Jackfruit is a tropical fruit and the ripe fruit can weigh anywhere between 3 kg to 10 kg. The outer skin is bumpy spiky and thick, almost like the Durian fruit. Inside the fruit there are many yellow soft pods which are the ones eaten by us, each pod has a big seed which is often discarded. But these seeds are very nutritious, it has vitamin B, and the seeds also provide small amounts of minerals like zinc, iron, calcium, copper, potassium and magnesium.

I remember my grandmother collecting the seeds and drying them out in the sun after washing them of course. She would then store them in an airtight container. She used to add them in Moong dal, or with a chochori or make boras. This recipe is for boras/ pakoras. But the seeds have to be boiled first before eating them. In Delhi I find these seeds in big vegetable markets only, but today I found it is available on Amazon!

Unlike the soft yellow pods these seeds do not have strong aroma or taste, it has a sweet, nutty taste which really comes through in these boras /Pakoras .

HOW TO MAKE THE BORAS

To make the bora you have to first boil the seeds in a pan or pressure cooker. Then when the seeds are cool the outer thin plastic like skin has to be peeled off. You will see a reddish brown skin on the seed, this you may or may not scrape off, I don’t.

Next, these seeds are chopped into small bits and mixed with salt, rice flour and chili powder or chopped green chilies, and just enough water is added so that the rice powder can hold together and you can make a ball.

Heat a frying pan , preferably a non-stick one. Put a little oil and swirl it to spread it all over the pan, reduce the heat to low. Pick up some of the seed and rice flour mixture, about the size of a table tennis ball, and squeeze it to form a rough ball. Place the ball on the hot frying pan and gently flatten it with a spatula/ khunti. Put a few more boras on the pan, add a little oil if needed, and let it cook on low flame. After about 3 minutes try to flip the boras with the spatula very carefully. It crumbles easily, so you need to flip it gently. Once both sides are brownish, take it off the pan and place it on a plate to cool. It gets crispy only when cool.

  • Boiled Jackfruit/ kanthal seeds
  • Peel the thin skin
  • This is what it looks like after the skin is peeled
  • chop them into small pieces
  • mix the seeds with the rice powder and salt and chilies
  • after mixing with rice powder and water.
  • Make a ball, place it on the frying pan and flatten it
  • Place as many as possible
  • Flip the boras once one side is brown
  • Kanthaler bichier bora. Jackfruit seed pakoras

RECIPE

Ingredients

Boiled and peeled and chopped Jackfruit / kanthal seeds 1 cup

Mirchi/ chili powder 1/4 teaspoon or 1 or 2 green chilies chopped

Salt 1/2 teaspoon

Rice powder 1/2 cup

Mustard oil 4 tablespoons

Water approximately 1/2 cup

Boil the dry seeds in a pressure cooker . For 1/2 kg seeds I used 1 cup water and let it cook till 2 whistles. Then switched off the gas and let the cooker cool down before opening.

Drain out the water and peel the white skin on top. Some seeds might not be good, they will be black or might not have softened, discard them.

Chop the seeds into small pieces and put it in a bowl.

Add the salt, chili powder or chopped chilies, and the rice powder.

Do not add the water all at once, add water slowly just enough to be able to make a ball with the rice powder and seeds mixture. Pick up some of the mixture and squeeze it in your palm to see if the mixture holds together to form a ball.

Heat a frying pan or Tava and put a tablespoon of oil in it. Swirl it around so the the oil spreads all over the pan.

Put a ball of mixture on the pan and gently press it with a spatula to make it flat without breaking it.

Add more boras to the pan and lower the heat to minimum and let it cook on low heat.

After about 5 minutes, flip the boras over and cook the other side. Both sides should be brown. This takes a bit of time.

Take it off the frying pan and put it on a serving dish. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving. It becomes crisp when it cools a little.

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How to Make Bengali Enchor Dalna

Jackfruit Curry

Jackfruit, or Kathal as it is called in Bengali, is a big fruit. It grows abundantly in the eastern and southern regions of India. A ripe Jackfruit has a sweet and strong aroma, almost like the Durian. The ripe fruit has many golden yellow pods inside a rough and bumpy thick skin. But, when the fruit is young it does not have a sweet taste, in fact it is rather bland. The texture is such that after cooking it looks like meat. Jackfruit is slowly becoming popular in western countries. It looks like meat and absorbs the flavors and spices very well.

My mother used to cook it exactly like Mutton curry. My mother in law on the other hand cooked it in a different way. We call it Echoder Dalna .This dalna is cooked with Cumin ( Jeera) , Coriander (Dhania), Tumeric ( haldi), chilii ( mirchi) powders. We have to cut the Jackfruit before cooking it. I have tried to show how to cut it in the photos below.

Prepping

Young Raw jackfruit is called Enchor in Bengali. When I buy it in the market the seller usually will cut the thick green skin off for me. They will also cut it into pieces if you want. I usually just get the skin removed. I cut it myself just before cooking.

This is a piece that I bought, probably one fourth of a raw small jackfruit.

I cut a small piece to make it easier to see. This is what it looks like with the thick green skin removed.

I cut a small portion first
Next I remove the center stalk
The stalk is discarded

You can make small portions of the Jackfruit. Then cut out the portion that will be made into a curry. Most people usually remove the skin and the center stalk. They cut the rest of the fruit into chunks and then make the curry. BUT in our house we use only the top part and discard the part that look like fibers. We do use some of the soft young seeds though. This is how we cut.

Cut between the meaty part and the fibrous part with the seed
Like this
From the fibrous part we take out the seeds
Then cut the meaty part into pieces
Like this.
The pieces are now ready to be cooked

This recipe is from my mother in law. She used to make the best Bengali dishes I have eaten. She would spend a long time cutting the vegetables herself. She used a traditional knife called Boti. She was very particular about the shape and size of the pieces.

To make this Enchor dalna you need potatoes, and they are peeled and diced like the photo.

RECIPE

  • Cut and cleaned Enchod ( raw jackfruit) 2&1/2 cups approximately*
  • Peeled and diced potatoes 1 cup approximately*
  • Mustard oil 2 tablespoons
  • salt 1 teaspoon
  • Haldi (turmeric ) 1/2 teaspoon
  • Dhania ( coriander) powder 1&1/2 teaspoon
  • Jeera ( cumin) powder 1 teaspoon
  • Garam Masala 1/2 teaspoon
  • Mirchi ( chili ) powder 1/2 teaspoon or less
  • Ghee 1 Tablespoon
  • Water 1 cup
  • For Tarka or seasoning the oil
  • Hing a pinch
  • Jeera seeds 1/4 teaspoon

For Tarka or seasoning the oil

Method

  • In a small bowl mix the Dhania powder, jeera powder, salt, Haldi, Mirchi, powders with a little water to make a spice paste
  • Heat the mustard oil in a pan or wok. Saute the potatoes first. Remove them from the oil and keep aside. Then saute the Enchor pieces and keep aside.
  • In the same oil add the Hing first then the Jeera seeds
  • When the Cumin (Jeera )seeds turn a little brown, add Masala (spices) paste to the oil. Stir fry it until the oil starts to separate at the edges.
  • Return the sauteed (aloo) potatoes and ( Echod ) Jackfruit to the wok. Stir fry them well. This ensures the vegetables get coated with the masalas.
  • Add the water and bring it to a boil. Then cover the pan and let it simmer on medium heat. Continue simmering until the potatoes and the enchor are cooked. They are done when they can be cut with a spoon.
  • Add the Ghee and garam masala. Let it boil a little before taking it off the flame.
  • Pour it into a serving dish. There should be a little gravy, but it should not be watery.

Serve with hot steamed rice.

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