Raw Jackfruit In Coconut

Back at my native, we have many jackfruit trees in our yard. During season, these trees had loads of jackfruits which were treat to the eyes. Aayi prepares many dishes with it, but this one is everybody’s favorite (as I said, I never liked it while growing up). She used to make this very often but somehow I never developed a taste for it. But when I found the jackfruit here, suddenly I started missing this dish. This time, I loved it too much.

Cutting jackfruit is a big task. I am posting a picture for the newbies. Make sure to use a very sharp knife. Better yet, use a addoli or advali or mettugathi to cut it. Use a bowl of water to put the pieces in after cutting. Preferably cut them on a paper to avoid the gum dropping on the floor and making a mess. Before touching it, apply some oil to hands to avoid sticking.

Cut the hard inside part and discard. Cut the thick skin. If the seeds are grown and are too hard, peel them and then use. Make small pieces.

Ingredients: 2 cups jackfruit pieces 3/4 cup fresh/frozen coconut 4-5 red chilies 3-4 teppal /sichuan pepper 2-3 pieces kokum 1/2 cup toor dal A pinch turmeric Salt

Method: Cook dal and jackfruit with a turmeric. (Preferably use two cooker vessels. In one, put jackfruit and in the other, put dal ). Grind coconut and red chilies to a very smooth paste. When done, put the teppal in same masala and slightly crush it(grind for a second. Make sure not to grind the teppal for long, it creates a very bad if it becomes paste). Take the dal , jackfruit and masala in a pan and cook. Add salt, kokum, mix well and cook for 7-8mins. Serve hot with rice.

Serves : 4-5 Preparation time : 30mins

Wish a very happy father’s day to you all.

I have been writing so much about my mom on this blog. But I think, I have never written anything about my dad. Now what can be a better day than Father’s day?

My dad – ‘pappa’ as we call him is a doctor and a social worker. After he finished his medical studies, he moved back to the village to stay with my grand father since my grand mother was no more and grand father was alone. He had more than his share of troubles for staying in such a small place. He is very actively involved in more than one school management, temple management and many such social work.

When it comes to family life, he is the best dad anybody can ask for. While growing up, he always gave us any smallest thing we asked for. We would ask for a chocolate and he would get the entire big pack of chocolates. He would take us for restaurants and every place we asked. He always tried his best to give us everything possible. He is very good in mathematics and he was too worried because during my initial school days, I was pathetic in studies. Then he started teaching me mathematics and I used to feel, ‘why he does not leave me alone? why he is always behind my studies?’, but when I started getting 100% marks in mathematics, I knew what my dad had done. If I was the favorite student of most of my teachers, the full credit goes to my parents who spent so much time on me.

Today I wanted to make something special for my pappa. I didn’t know what to cook. I had great ideas of making a small model of my native. But it was too difficult to make. So finally I decided to put everything he loves represent on the cake. I don’t say I did a great job, but I tried my best.

I am sure you guys can’t recognize what I was thinking when I was putting these bits and pieces on cake. So here it is –

Vada , idli-chutney-sambar , batata vada , hittu/khotte , kadamb