Kadgi Chakko (Jackfruit subji)

         In summer we all eagerly wait for summer fruits; mangoes, jackfruit, cashew etc. While travelling through the coastal route you can smell the awesome sweet smell of cashew and mango flowers blooming, you see jackfruit trees laden with small jack-fruits which when ripe is full of sweet flesh.

          We always associate fruits with sweet dishes or desserts, but we can also make savoury dishes from them, especially when raw fruits are used. For example tender cashew is added in sprouted moong curry or tendli ki subji. We make chutneys from raw mangoes. Similarly, we in Udupi-Mangalore make a dish from tender jackfruit which is called Kadgi Chakko. Kadgi means tender jackfruit. This is a typical Konkani dish made in every household. 

Ingredients

½ kg raw jackfruit

10-12 bedgi red chillies

1 cup coconut

1 tablespoon dania seeds

2 teaspoon udad dal

2 teaspoon methi seeds

Tamarind – size of lemon

Salt to taste

Hing or asafoetida – ½ teaspoon

Curry leaves – 2 strings

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

2-3 dried kokum

1 cup oil

1 tablespoon jaggery/gul

• 1^st step is to remove the prickly outer skin and inner sticky core.

Inner core (the triangle part has to be removed)

• Cut jackfruit into medium size pieces.

• Steam the pieces in cooker, with little bit of water maybe ¼ cup, upto 3 whistles.
• In 1 teaspoon oil, roast 1 teaspoon of udad dal and methi seeds till brown and keep aside.

• Masala: grind coconut, 8 – 10 red chillies, dania seeds, tamarind without adding water. Make a coarse powder. Add the roasted udad dal , methi, along with hing, salt to taste and jaggery and grind it.
• Smear the paste to the boiled jackfruit and keep aside for 10 minutes.

• In a non-stick kadai or hard bottom kadai take 1 cup oil (this is not for health conscious, weak hearted people).
• Add the remaining udad dal and methi.
• When they start turning brown, add mustard seeds.

• After they splutter, add hing, curry leaves, broken red chillies and fry a bit on medium heat.
• Add the dried kokum and the masala smeared jackfruit.
• Stir nicely but with a delicated hand, least all gets mushed up.

• Cook nicely with occasional stirring else it will get struck at bottom and get burnt.
• Cook till oil starts to leave sides.

• Serve hot with pulkas or chapatti. Some like to eat it alone or best combination is hot steamy rice with dalli toy and kadgi chakko… yumm.

Note:

1. This dish, when cooked with more quantity of oil, stays for 2-3 days without getting spoiled and tastes better with each passing day.
2. While getting jack fruit, make sure that jackfruit is neither totally ripe nor tender. The flesh inside should be creamy in colour with seeds formed though not fully developed.
3. Some like it fully mashed up, others like to get chunks of it while eating. So mashing it fully or keeping pieces of it is up to you.