Ever since I came back from India, I am trying my best to get adjusted back here. My feelings are also something similar to Sia’s . I am missing home terribly and have become very very lazy. So thats the reason I haven’t replied to any queries here or the mails. I am sorry about that.
While in India, I took pictures of seasonal fruits and flowers. So apart from traditional recipes, I am going to post them too. I am going to post them once in a week so that they make me feel good.
Coming to the fruit of the day. It is going to be jackfruit. There are two main varieties of jackfruit that are very popular at our place. Both of them look exactly same. Unless they are cut open, you cannot make out the difference (atleast a person like me can’t make out).
One of them is the kind where you cannot cut them open with knife. Check the picture below. We call it “tiLvo panas”. One should be very careful while eating these as they are very slippery and cause choking if not careful. My dad and I simply love this. Even the 90% of jackfruit lovers can’t stand this.
Second one we call as “kappo panas”. These are cut open with a knife. It looks like this picture . Here the pods are firmer and you don’t have the problem of choking.
Both kind of jackfruits have a kind of glue which oozes out when they are cut. So before handling them, a little oil (preferably coconut oil) is applied to hands and the knife. Cut this fruit on a paper/plastic to avoid mess.
Jackfruit trees bear many fruits during season. Like coconut, every part of the tree is very useful. Raw jackfruit is used in many dishes. When it gets ripe, the fleshy sweet pods are eaten. The seeds are saved and sun dried. These seeds are used to make many dishes. The leaves are used to make hittu/khotte . The dried tree trunks are used to build houses.
More information about jackfruit from Jai and Bee .
Ambe (mangoes) must be one of the most loved fruit during summer in India. Konkanis make many different dishes with it. One such dish which has a distinct Konkani stamp on it is Ambe humaNe or ambe upkari .
There are many varieties of mangoes grown at our native which are not known to other parts of India. Most of these types are local ( ganvti ). Usually these mangoes are very sweet and have lot of pulp. They cannot be cut with a knife(these varieties are called “ ghonta ” in Konkani) because they have quite big seed( gorto ) in them. So eating them is a messy business, but who cares when it tastes out of the world. The smallest variety among such type of mangoes is used for this dish. It is a spicy and sweet dish. Many times, over ripe or not-so-sweet mangoes are used because the addition of jaggery and green chilies, gives them a unique taste. It is a very common dish during mango season.
It is a bit tricky to eat this, and I think, the best way is to use your hands. The mango juices absorb all the flavors from the seasoning and it turns into an amalgamation of myriad tastes. Beause these small mangoes are not available here in US, I use mango pieces when I make this here. It tastes great too. But if you ask a Konkani person, we would say, humaNe should be made with these small mangoes and if you make it without them, then it is not called humaNe :).
Ingredients: 7-8 small mangoes 4-5 green chilies 4-5 curry leaves 1 tbl spn fresh/frozen coconut 1/2 tea spn mustard seeds 1/2 tea spn urad dal 1 tea spn jaggery (optional) Oil Salt
Method: Peel the skin of all mangoes. Usually these mangoes have a very thin skin and they come out easily.
Heat a little oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add urad dal . Add curry leaves, green chilies slitted into two. Now add the mangoes, jaggery, salt, half cup water (if there is not enough juice in mangoes), coconut. Close the lid and cook for 5-6 mins. This helps the mangoes absorb all the flavors and thicken the juices. Serve hot as a side dish with rice and some spicy gravy.
Serves : 3-4 Preparation time : 15mins
