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Jackfruit, or kathal, has always been a part of Indian culinary traditions, celebrated not only for its versatility but also for its nutritional benefits. With an unparalleled ability to mimic the texture of meat, jackfruit is a beloved plant-based meat for vegans.
As jackfruit cooks slowly, the frills of raw jackfruit start to split apart, resulting in a tender, fibrous texture that absorbs all the flavours of spices and condiments used in a recipe. Also, its subtle sweet flavour makes it irresistible with every bite, making you want to forget about meat all along.
When making savoury recipes, raw jackfruit is preferred for its stiff texture and mild sweetness. For making desserts and sweet dishes, ripe jackfruit is chosen for its soft mushy texture and enhanced sweet flavour. When cooking with raw jackfruit, it is always pressure-cooked for 2 whistles to make sure it's cooked entirely before adding it to curries or stir-fries.
Thanks to its distinct texture and fantastic flavour, jackfruit can be transformed into many recipes from desserts to savoury dishes effortlessly. Whether you are craving delicious crisps or tantalising curry, with jackfruit you can make everything instantly.
1) Jackfruit Curry
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Jackfruit curry features raw jackfruit cooked until tender. The curry base is made of a smooth blend of onion, garlic, tomato, coriander, and ginger. Once the base is blended, it is stir-fried with whole spices like bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, and cloves. Then spices including chilli powder, turmeric, cumin powder, garam masala and coriander powder are added, and full-fat curd is mixed in to make it rich. Once cooked, the base is diluted with some water and cooked jackfruit pieces go in. After simmering for a few minutes, it is served with rice or roti.
2) Jackfruit Kebabs
Jackfruit kebabs are made by mashing boiled jackfruits and mixing it with chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, Salt, finely chopped onion, mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chillies, and roasted gram flour. When a dough-like mixture is created, it is shaped into small tikkits and shallow fried on both sides until crispy. These kebabs are a perfect late-night snack that comes together within 30 minutes and you can also eat it as a burger patty.
3) Jackfruit Crisps
For the cravings of some crispy nibbles, jackfruit chips can be the perfect solution. These crisps are made by chopping boiled jackfruit pieces and seed flesh to long strands, and deep frying or air frying it to crispy perfection. After the crisps are fried, it's coated with salt and seasoning to bring out the flavours. You can store these chips for 3-4 days and eat it whenever you crave snacks.
4) Jackfruit Biryani
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It is a highly debated topic that jackfruit biryani tastes better than chicken biryani due to its extremely luscious texture, frills that match the texture of meat, and mild sweet hints that enhance the flavour. Jackfruit biryani is made in the same way as regular chicken biryani, which starts by marinating raw jackfruit pieces in curd-based marinade and is cooked in oil to create the base. Then cooked rice is layered with the base, and simmered for a few minutes before serving with raita.
5) Jackfruit Seeds Curry
Jackfruit seeds have a whole new flavour and texture than jackfruit meat. These seeds have an unpleasant hard covering which needs to be removed before cooking. If you don't like seeds with the meat, you can make a separate seeds curry dish by sauteing boiled seeds with whole spices, chopped onion, green chilli and garlic. Then ground spices are added along with salt and curd is included to make a rich base. You can keep the curry dry or add some water to make wet gravy.
6) Jackfruit Poriyal
Jackfruit Poriyal is a south Indian dish made by stir-frying boiled pieces of jackfruit with mustard seeds, asafoetida, urad dal, and chana dal until golden. Then curry leaves, green chillies, and spices are added. Once the recipe is mixed well together, it is drizzled with lemon juice and grated coconut before serving with rice or paratha.
