Have had enough of the sweet succulent jackfruit flesh ? Well, then it is right time to embrace yet another produce of the jackfruit tree. Those big white seeds that we tend to throw away are perfectly edible and are considered a delicacy in several parts of the country. In fact, the seeds are carefully harvested, cleaned and dried in the sun to be stored and consumed over the next few months. And having grown up in Odisha, I have eaten quite a few curries and fries that have jackfruit seeds as a ingredient. Apart from the sorisa bhaja, masala bhaja, raee and just the plain roasted ones prepared in a wood fired/coal fired stove, it has a propensity of making it's way into just about every vegetarian dish. No wonder I cannot get it out of my head even if I have practically given up on ripe jackfruits ( for some reason, I find it overpoweringly sweet these days ).
Last weekend on a trip to the HAL market in Bengaluru, I chanced upon a lady selling these yummy seeds. I brought half a kilo and even though it was a Sunday ( obligatory non-vegetarian day in our kitchen ), quickly prepared this delicious curry with about one third of them. Very simple and frugal, one just needs some Badi ( urad dal vadi ) apart from the regular ingredients from one's pantry. While I choose to call it a 'Raee' because of the ingredients used, it is almost dry in consistency and hence often considered as a 'bhaja'.
Preparation Time - 25 mins
Ingredients -
- 150 gm jackfruit seeds
- 4-5 urad dal Badi
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 dry red chili
- 1 green chili
- 2 pinch turmeric powder
- 3 tsp oil
- dash of mustard oil for final garnish
- cilantro for garnishing
- salt to taste
Preparation - Remove the outer white layer of the jackfruit seeds. Wash them.
Chop each one into small pieces.
Make a fine paste out of the mustard seeds, red chili and garlic. Dilute the paste with 1 cup of water and let it stand undisturbed.
Cooking - Heat 1 tsp oil in a wok. Add the Badi and fry on low flame to a golden brown. Remove from wok and keep aside.
Add another 2 tsp of oil to the same wok. Add the chopped jackfruit seeds. Stir fry for about 2-3 mins.
Carefully drain the water from the cup containing the mustard paste into the wok. The black residue part should be left behind in the cup.
Add turmeric and salt to taste. Cook covered till 3/4th done.
Crush the fried badis and add to the wok. Let it cook till all the excess water evaporates.
Finally mix in the mustard oil, chopped green chili and cilantro. Remove from the flame.
Serve it at room temperature with some steamed rice and yellow dal. Enjoy !!