Chakka Varatti / Jackfruit Preserve

                                             We did a road trip to Detroit to meet one my husband’s cousin. I really enjoyed that trip….It was wonderful ride through the country side enjoying the scenic beauty. Detroit, adding to it was a beautiful place, we spotted lots of lakes there. On our way back to Toronto my husband’s cousin packed us a one whole jackfruit, knowing our craziness to that fruit.  That was an awesome Jackfruit, prefect ripeness and taste. We ate a lot and shared some with our friends too… But we still had a lot of the fruit remaining. I was quite burdened that the fruit might get spoiled. That’s when an idea popped into my head, Chakka Varrati or the Jackfruit preserve which my grandmother used to make. Usually my grandmother makes this varrati with an entire fruit or even two. It is made in a huge vessel called 'uruli'. It is quite a labor intensive process and takes a long time (about 3-4 hours).

Jackfruit is an aromatic, fleshy fruit with wide sharpy like dotted skin. It can be eaten ripe, and cooked or uncooked. The seeds can also be eaten cooked. Although many who eat jackfruit loves it for its delicious taste, quite a few are unaware of the health benefits of jackfruit. It contains vitamin A, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcium, potassium, iron, sodium, zinc and many other nutrients. Made a quick call to mom for the recipe.

         Chakka Varrati or the Jackfruit preserve is an authentic and most popular kerala delicacy made from ripened jackfruit. Chakka is a Malayalam word for jackfruit and Chakkavarrati is a preserved pulp made out of jackfruit, Jaggery and ghee. Generally the chakkavarrati is made during jackfruit season and preserved for making various chakka(Jackfruit) delicacies.

INGREDIENTS: 

Ripe jack fruit flesh (finely chopped) -6 cup

Jaggery - 1kg

Ghee 1 cup

Dry ginger/chukku -1tsp

Cardamom powder - 1tsp

Water - 2 cups

METHOD:

Deseed the flesh pieces of jack fruit and chop them into small pieces.

Pressure cook the jack fruit pieces with 1 cup of water, for about 10 to 15 minutes until it is soft.

Cool down the cooked jack fruit and puree it in a mixer.

Heat a heavy bottomed pan and transfer the jack fruit pulp to this pan. Stir continuously until water disappears.

In the mean while heat another pan and melt Jaggery with a cup of water, to a dry thick syrup.

Pour the melted Jaggery to jack fruit pulp and stir continuously.

Add ghee, chukku and cardamom little by little.

Stir continuously on a low flame. If it is sticking then add little more ghee.

Stir continuously without taking your hands, until oil separates from sides, and it forms into 1 single lump.

Cool and store in an air tight container.

Chakkakkuru & Pavakka Mezhukkupuratti / Jack fruit seed& Bitter gourd stir fry – Kerala Style

Ckakkakkuru & pavakka mezhukkupuratti is one of the nostalgic dish. It is a popular Kerala special side dish that goes well with plain boiled rice and curry. Chakkakkuru (Jackfruit seeds) contain a good amount of protein. It contains vitamins which are good for healthy skin and hair. Jack fruit seeds are also rich in fibre, which in turn helps to prevent constipation.

Bitter Gourd(Pavakka) is a low calorie vegetable but dense with precious nutrients. It is an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, and B3, C, magnesium, folate, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, and has high dietary fiber. It is rich in iron, contains twice the beta-carotene of broccoli, twice the calcium of spinach, and twice the potassium of a banana.

Soaking the Gourd in salt water before cooking helps to lighten the bitter taste of Pavakka/Bitter Gourd. Try this Simple Bitter Gourd & Jackfruit seed stir fry recipe and enjoy.

Ingredients: 

Pavakka(Bittergourd) - 1 cup

Chakkakkuru(Jackfruit seeds) - 1 cup(10 -15 nos)

Shallots(Small onions) - 5 nos

Dry red chillies  - 3 nos

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves – 7 to 8 nos

Turmeric powder – ¼  + ½ tsp

Green chillies – 2 to 3 nos

Coconut oil - 3 tsp

Salt - As reqd

Method:

1. Peel, slice and clean jack fruit seeds. Cook jackfruit with salt & Turmeric and keep aside.
2. Cut bitter gourd in thin slices.
3. Heat oil in a pan. Crackle mustard seeds, add shallot, when it become brown color add curry leaves, whole red chilly and green chilly.
4. To this mixture, transfer bitter gourd, cooked jackfruit seeds and enough amount of salt. Sauté well, close the lid and allow it to cook. No need to add water. Stir occasionally. This should take 5 to 10 mintues.
5. Once the bitter gourd is cooked, open the lid and fry it in medium flame till all the water is dried out and the vegetable is fried well.
6. Chakkakkuru & pavakka mezhukkupuratti is ready to be served. Serve hot with rice.

Karimeen Fry Kerala Style - Pearl Spot Fry

The pearlspot is found throughout Kerala, especially in Kerala backwaters around Alleppey (Alappuzha), Kottayam, Quilon (Kollam). This fish is fairly expensive and is available throughout the year. It feeds on algae, plant material and insects.The fish is known locally in Kerala as karimeen. Some of the prominent dishes are the Karimeen Fry, Karimeen Molly and Karimeen Pollichathu(marinated with masala, wrapped in banana leaves and steam cooked).

Pearl Spot / Karimeen fry is a sought after delicacy in Kerala. The Karimeen is marinated in a mixture of lemon juice, red chillies, other ingredients and shallow fried until golden brown. This Karimeen fry recipe is an exotic dish cooked in Kerala style.

Ingredients

Karimeen - 2 Nos ( Large sized )

Chilly powder - 1 ½ tbsp

Black pepper powder – 2 ½ tsp

Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

Ginger – 1-inch piece

Garlic – 4 to 5 nos

Lemon extract - 1 ½ tbsp

Coconut oil – 4 to 5 tbsp

Curry leaves  - 5 to 6 stems

Salt

Method:

1. Wash and clean the fish, make incisions on both sides of the fish and set aside.
2. For the masala, in a mortar crush ginger and garlic. Then add salt, pepper, vinegar, lemon extract turmeric and chilli powder and curry leaves. Roughly grind and mix it all together.
3. Marinade the fish with the above masala and keep it aside for 30 minutes.
4. Heat 4 tbsp of coconut oil/ sunflower oil in a pan. On a low flame cook the fish for 3-4 minutes on each side.
5. Finally Serve the fried Karimeen fish with a wedge of lime and fresh onions rings.

Kerala Style Padavalanga Thoran / Snakegourd Stir Fry

Snake gourd may not be a type of vegetable that is well-known around the world, but certain cultures have been utilizing this unique food variety for hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of years. They are native to Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and other neighboring countries, as well as some parts of Australia and Africa. It is a vine plant that climbs up a tree and then unfurls its flowers and fruits to hang down to the ground.

Snake Gourd contains a rich variety of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that are essential for human health, including significant levels of dietary fiber, a small number of calories, and high levels of protein. In terms of vitamins, snake gourd possess vitamin A, B, C, as well as manganese, magnesium, calcium, iron, potassium, and iodine. 

Our today’s recipe is Snakegourd stir fry with coconut / Padavalanga Thoran, a Kerala based recipe commonly used in most of the houses of South India. Snakegourd/ Padavalanga help our body to maintain its normal function and create a cooking effect in human body. It is very much useful in treating Type II diabetics to reduce weight and helps in constipation as this vegetable is rich in Fiber.

Ingredients:

 Snake gourd – 2 cups (cleaned and chopped)

Onions – ¾ cup chopped

Coconut – ½ cup grated

Green chilli – 2 long ones slited into half

Salt to taste

Turmeric - ½ tsp

Garlic – 2 to 3 cloves

Oil – 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

Curry leaves 7 to 8 leaves

Method:

Clean and cut snake gourd in small cubes and set aside.

Chop onions into small cubes, slice garlic and slit the green chillies. 

Now in a pan add oil, then add mustard seeds, cumin seeds; when it crackles add curry leaves, green chillies, snake gourd, garlic onions, turmeric and salt.

Cover and cook in low- medium flame (no need to add any water since snake gourd has enough water in it).

Once it is cooked and all the water evaporated add grated coconut stir well and turn off the flame.  

This stir fry/ thoran goes well with boiled rice and curry.

Beetroot Thoran / Stir Fry

        Beetroots (Beets) have long been used for medicinal purposes, primarily for disorders of the liver as they help to stimulate the liver's detoxification processes. It is low in fat, full of vitamins and minerals and packed with powerful antioxidants. Beetroot fibre has been shown to increase the level of antioxidant enzymes in the body, as well as increase the number of white blood cells, which are responsible for detecting and eliminating abnormal cells. Beets are also one of the richest sources of glutamine, an amino acid, essential to the health and maintenance of the intestinal tract.

Beets are not a favourite vegetable for many, has been linked to provide better stamina, improved blood flood and lower blood pressure. I am working on finding out different recipes that can be made out of this amazing vegetable. Our today’s recipe is a thoran or stir fry made out of this nutrition packed vegetable (beetroot). This is a very basic and simple South Indian (Kerala recipe), which is a great side dish for steamed rice.

Ingredients

Beetroots (finely chopped or grated) - 3 medium sized or 2 large

Coconut, grated freshly grated - 4 to 5 tsbp

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Fennel seeds - ½ tsp

Onion, chopped – 1 medium sized

Curry leaves - 10-12leaves

Dry red chillies, whole – 2 nos

Green chilli, finely chopped – 2 nos

Ginger, finely chopped - ¾ tsp

Turmeric powder- 1 tsp

Red chilli powder - ¼ tsp

Coriander powder - 1 tsp

Garam masala - ¼ tsp

Sunflower oil / Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method:

1.     Heat Oil in a kadai/ pan, splutter the mustard seeds and add the cumin           seeds. When they start to sizzle add the chopped onions.

2.  Fry it on a medium flame for 2 minutes. Now add the whole red chilli, chopped green chilli and ginger. Fry for a minute and add the curry leaves.

3.   Reduce the heat and add all the dry masala powders including the whole garam masala. (make sure not to burn the masala.

4.     Fry for a half a minute and then add the beetroot, add salt and mix well.

5.    Cook the beetroot without a lid with occasional stirrings. If the beetroot is grated, they will cook faster. (This takes approx. 10-12 minutes for grated beetroot)

6.     When the beetroot is cooked, add the grated coconut and cook for a minute or two just for the flavours to blend in. Turn off the heat and transfer it to a serving bowl.

7.     Beetroot thoran can be served as along with steamed rice.

Note: (measuring cup used, 1 cup = 250 ml)

Kozhukkatta - Rice Flour Dumplings with Jaggery & Coconut filling

Ingredients:

Rice flour (roasted) - 1 cup

Grated coconut - 2 cup

Jaggery - 1 cup

Cardamom powder - 1 Tsp

Raisins – 15 nos

Boiling water - 1 cup

Salt to taste

Coconut oil - 1 Tsp

Method:

1. Mix salt and rice flour. Boil water and pour it into the flour little by little and mix it well with a wooden spoon. Cover and keep it aside for a few minutes.

2. Grate Jaggery and to it add cardamom powder, raisins and grated coconut. Combine it well

3.  Add 1 tsp of coconut oil into the flour mixture and knead it to a soft dough consistency

4. Make small balls out of the dough and flatten it slightly with your palm.

5. Now fill it with the coconut jaggery mixture and seal it well. Then, roll it into round balls or any other desired shapes and steam it well until it gets cooked.

6. Tastes better when serve little warm

Mutton Fry - Kerala Style

Mutton fry, this dish is from Kerala in Southern India. Though the dish says fry it does not mean that it’s fried in oil. In fact this dish required very less oil.

Mutton fry is a Kerala style of making meat in a dry gravy. Mutton is cooked with some Indian spices, curry leaves and coconut pieces. The addition of roasted coconut pieces brings out the flavor of the meat and given a unique taste to the dish.

My hubby is fond of my mutton fry, so I make this at least once a week. This is an authentic Kerala style mutton fry recipe that was handed over to me by my sister, who learnt from her Mother-in-law. This recipe involves fewer steps and can be prepared without much effort.

Ingredients:

Mutton / Lamb cubes, on the bone  - 750 grams

Coconut Oil  - 3 tablespoons

Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 2 tbsp

Garam Masala – 2 tsps

Ginger-garlic paste         - 2 tbsp

Curry leaves – 10 to 15 leaves

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Onion, thinly sliced – 4 medium

Salt to taste

Coconut, sliced and cut into small pieces - 1/2 cup

Preparation:

 Wash the mutton pieces and keep it aside. Heat a wide pan, add chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder, slightly warm up the powders for 1 to 2 minutes (be careful not to burn the masala powder, otherwise the gravy will taste bitter). Now add this to the washed mutton pieces. Add salt, ginger & garlic paste and mix well, such that all the pieces are coated with the masala. Leave this aside for 1 hour after. After which transfer the mutton pieces to a pressure cooker and add 1 cup water. Close the cooker with lid and cook for 20-25 minutes or till 5-6 whistles are given out.

Heat a cooking pan and add oil, now roasted the coconut pieces when it started to change colour add mustard seeds and allow it to sputter.  When it’s crackled add onions and curry leaves, sauté till it becomes light brown.  Now add the cook mutton pieces and gram masala and mix well. Reduce the heat and allow it to cook till it reaches a dry consistency and is fried will. 

Turn off the heat and serve hot. This can be served with Parota’s, roti’s, naan’s, but it taste awesome with red rice and some mooru curry (tempered yogurt curry).

Ghee Rice / Nei choru

Ghee rice / Nei Choru is one of the traditional Kerala dishes served on special occasions. Among all rice recipes, ghee rice is best recipe due to its simple preparation and heavenly incomparable taste. It is a fragrant, subtly spiced special rice; loaded with ghee / clarified butter, caramelized onions, aromatic spices such as cardamom, bay leaf, black peppercorns and cloves, nuts and raisins. All this simply makes it stand out from others.

My mom used to make this during most weekends back home. It is a quick and easy dish, but that does not in any way affect its grandeur. When you are running out of time and need to make a special meal, Ghee rice is the go to recipe. It goes well with most South Indian dishes like Chicken curry, Mutton / Lamb curry or Egg curries.

Ingredients:

Basmati rice - 2 cups, washed and drained

Onion - 2, large, finely sliced

Green chilies - 3, slit length wise

Ginger, crushed – ½ tablespoon

Garlic, crushed – ½ tablespoon

Cloves – 6

Cardamom - 2

Cinnamon stick - 1" stick (2 pieces)

Bay leaf - 2

Cashew nuts - 10-12,

Raisins – 1 Tablespoon

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves - 2 tbsps, finely chopped(optional)

Ghee - 4 tbsps

Method:

1.  Heat a heavy bottomed vessel, add 3 tbsps. ghee and allow it to melt. Once hot, reduce flame, add the cashew nuts and sauté till golden brown and remove. Add the raisins and sauté for a few seconds and remove. Keep aside the cashew nuts and raisins.

2.  In the same vessel, add the sliced onion and saute till the onions are caramelized. This could take about 9-12 minutes. Remove the onions and keep aside.

3.   In the same cooking vessel, add a tbsp. of ghee and once hot, add the cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and bay leaf. Allow to splutter. Add the green chilies, Crushed ginger and garlic. Sauté for few seconds. Add the drained rice and sauté on low flame for 4 minutes. Do not over mix or the rice might break. Add 3 3/4 cups hot water and salt to taste. Bring to a boil.

4. Reduce flame to low, place lid and cook till the rice is soft. Remove lid and mix well. Remove onto a serving plate.

5.  Garnish with caramelized onions, cashew nuts and raisins

6.  Can be served with chicken or mutton or egg curry.

Kerala Palappam

Ingredients:

1.    Raw rice– 2 cups

2.    Cooked rice – ½ cup

3.    Grated Coconut – ¾ cup

4.    Semolina – 2 tablespoon

5.    Yeast – 1/2 teaspoon

6.    Sugar – 1/2 tablespoon

7.    Salt to taste

8.    Water – 2 glass

Method:

Soak rice for 2 to 5 hrs. Then grind it with cooked rice, grated coconut using required amount of water. The batter consistency should be similar to dosa batter.

In a small cup add yeast, sugar and 2 tablespoon of warm water and mix well till the yeast and sugar melts.  Keep it aside for 15 minutes.  In a pan cook semolina with ½ cup water. Cook until it becomes sticky. Keep it aside to cool. Add this and yeast mixture into the batter and mix well.

Keep the batter overnight in a warm place to ferment. Next day morning, first mix the batter well & add water if required. Please note that the batter consistency should be runny, much thinner than the dosa batter. Add salt & sugar to taste.

Heat Appachatti (Appam Kadai) and pour 1 or 1 & 1/2 ladle  of batter into it and  rotate the appachatti immediately and making sure the batter is spread in a circular form. Cover & cook it in low flame. Once the middle portion is cooked, remove from fire.

Serve hot with chicken/vegetable/mutton stew or curry.

Kerala Style Fish Curry / Meen Curry Kerala Style

This fish curry is the most sought out fish curry at any household in Kerala. This can be made with any type of fish, but the preferred one would be the king fish, seer fish or salmon which has fewer bones.

My husband is quite crazy about this fish curry. Though I knew cooking before marriage, I did not know how to make this fish curry. I learnt this fish curry from my mother-in-law, whose fish curry is my husband’s favorite.

This fish curry does not need much ingredients and it can be made quickly with very less effort. 

Ingredients

   Fish(medium pieces ) – ½ kg

   Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

   Fenugreek seeds – ¼ tsp

   Ginger & garlic chopped – 1½ tbsp, Small onion – 6-8

   Kashmiri chili powder – 1½ – 2 tbsp

   Turmeric powder – ½ tsp

   Kodumpuli / Gambooge – 2,3 pieces

   Curry leaves

   Salt to taste

   Coconut oil

   Water as required

Method:

Step 1: Soak Kodumpuli / Gambooge in 1 cup water.

Step 2: Layer the fish

Take the Chatti (earthenware) or a pan, in which you have planned to cook the fish. Arrange the fish on the chatti /pan such the bottom of the pan is covered with fish. Now sprinkle the curry leaves, salt and the soaked Kodumpuli / Gambooge on top of the fish.

Step 3: Make the gravy

Heat oil in a kadai or pan add splutter mustard & fenugreek seeds. Now add the thinly sliced shallots, chopped ginger & Garlic are sauté for 3  minutes.  Now reduce the heat and add chilli powder and turmeric powder, fry for a minute and then immediately add half of the water (water used to soak Kodumpuli / Gambooge). Allow it to fry for 2 minutes now add the remaining water and allow it to boil. 

Step 4: Cook the fish

Put the chatti/pan on heat with fish and pour the gravy (made in step 3) on it. Combine well. Make sure that fish pieces do not get broken in the process; it will be safer to rotate the pan to ensure that fish & gravy is mixed well. Add water if required, such the fish is covered with the gravy & cook it in low heat with lid on till the fish is done & gravy becomes thick. (Rotate the chatti/pan in between to help the fish and gravy get mixed well) This will take around 20 -25 minutes on low flame. Serve with rice (Kerala red rice).

Chakkakuru, Manga and Muringka Curry / Jackfruit Seed, Mango and Drumstick Curry

Chakkakuru Manga & Muringka Curry / Jackfruit seeds, Mango & Drumstick curry is one of the most popular dish in every Kerala kitchens.  This is an Authentic naadan vegetarian dish prepared from a combination of Chakkakuru (Jack fruit Seeds), Muringka (Drumstick) and Manga (Mango) in a delicious curry format.  It’s prepared usually in the pre monsoon period when jack fruits are on season.

Ingredients

For Gravy:

Peeled and washed Chakkakuru /Jackfruit seeds - 2 cups, cut lengthwise in to 4 pieces

Raw Mango - 1, peeled and sliced

Muringka / Drumstick – 2 cut into small stripes

Shallots – 10, sliced length wise

Green Chillies - 5, silted

Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp

For Grinding:

Grated fresh coconut -1 cup, heaped

Green Chillies – 2

Cumin seeds – ½ tsp

For Seasoning:

Coconut oil - 2 tbsp

Mustard seeds – ½ tsp

Shallots -3, sliced thinly

Dry Red Chillies – 3

Curry leaves- few

Method

Grind together coconut, green chillies and cumin seeds into fine paste and keep aside.

Cook chakkakuru / jackfruit seeds in a pressure cooker with turmeric powder, salt and 2 cups of water. When jackfruit seeds are cooked half way add drum stick pieces, mango pieces, shallots and green chillies and cook until soft and tender.

Now add the ground paste to the cooked jackfruit, drumstick & mango mixture and mix well. Lower the flame and stir well for 2-3 minutes or until the curry is heated thoroughly but do not let it boil after adding coconut paste. Turn off the heat and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it starts spluttering add shallots and fry until light brown and add curry leaves, dry red chillies and fry for few seconds. Pour this seasoning over the curry, mix well.

Can be served with rice, especially rice red rice.

Enjoy!!!