Chukka Puzhukku – Spiced Raw Jackfruit

Like most other South Indians, Keralites too, eat a minimum of 5 good meals a day, and the lavish evening kaapi is one of them. To help Roy build up an appetite ( or to burn up the millions of calories he had devoured just a couple of hours before) for these unaccustomed meals I dragged him along while I sauntered around the paramb and mittam. And, as I showed off the trees, the walls, the rocks and other stuff that seemed at present insignificant and trivial but yet, in my childhood were treasured with greater value than life itself, Mini Chechi, my sister-in-law, whipped us some yummy Chukka Puzhukku and meen for the evening kaapi. It was the first thing I asked for when I entered home and sniffed jack fruit in the air!

Chukka Puzhukku made with raw green jack fruit is a staple for breakfast or an evening snack in the south of Kerala during summers. Though I didn’t care about it much as a child, I now miss it like a lovelorn soldier does his sweetheart :(.

Ingredients:

1 lb deseeded segments of raw jack fruit
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/3 -1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 cloves of garlic
2 green chilies
2 sprigs of curry leaves
2 –3 finely sliced shallots
salt to taste
 

Directions:

Chop the raw jack fruit segments julienne style and cook in half a cup of water. (if using a pressure cooker allow it to cook for one whistle).

Grind together coconut, cumin,,green chilies,garlic, curry leaves, shallots and turmeric powder into a smooth paste.

Add the ground mixture to the cooked raw jack fruit and mix well.

Serve with pickles and Kerala chicken, beef or fish.