Jackfruit Curry

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(Photo by sfllaw/Flickr)

For cooking, jackfruit should not be ripe with yellow and fragrant flesh, but at the stage when the pericarps (fleshy sacs which cover the large seeds) are pale. Slices of this large fruit are cut like wedges of watermelon and sold by weight at markets. Experienced cooks rub their hands with oil before handling the fruit as it oozes a sticky latex which is hard to remove, and the oil gives protection.

Ingredients

500 g/1 lb unripe jakfruit (pericarps and seeds)
sprig of curry leaves
2 strips pandan leaves
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 or 2 fresh green chillies
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground fennel
250 ml/8 fl oz/1 cup canned coconut milk
diluted with equal amount of water
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
125 ml/4 fl oz/1/2 cup undiluted coconut milk

Directions

Peel and clean the jakfruit. Remove fine, plastic-like strips which lie close to pericarps, and the celluloid-like skin of the seed. Slice the pericarps into bite-sized pieces. Put all the ingredients into a pan, except for the undiluted coconut milk. Bring to boil and cook until jakfruit and seeds are tender. Add the reserved coconut milk, simmer for a few minutes and serve with rice.

Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)