Take a can of Jack fruit and cook it three ways.....

One of the followers of my facebook page asked me what he can do with a can of Jackfruit (polos). He spoke about the polos curry his Amma made which made me nostalgic and his enthusiasm about finding a couple of cans of Polos in an Asian shop was so refreshing.

I was thinking of how excited I used to feel when I found a Sri Lankan vegetable such as Bandakka or thalana batu when I first moved overseas. Once I paid an exorbitant $32 a kilo for a handful of Thibbatu just out of that nostalgia and made a mallun out of it and ate it with rice with so much glee.

So in response to your request, my dear brother from Saudi Arabia, I have come up with three recipes for you to cook using canned Polos.

Polos curry - Jackfruit curry

1 can jackfruit
1 large onion chopped finely
4 cloves of garlic and 1 inch piece of ginger crushed together
a few green chillies
1 tsp curry powder
half tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1 tsp chilli powder
1 can coconut milk
a few curry leaves - dried is fine
a few pieces of Rampe (dried, frozen - its called Pandan leaves and is found frozen in Asian shops)
a couple of pieces of goraka (if you cant find it, just use some lemon juice after cooking or cut up
tomatoes to add the sourness)

Drain the jackfruit from can. Wash and drain well.

1. Saute the onions, green chillies and curry leaves in a little oil over medium heat. 
2. Add the ginger garlic paste and the curry powder, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir for a few seconds.
3. Add about 1/4 of the coconut milk and half a cup of water and bring to the boil. Add the goraka and the jackfruit pieces.
4 Cover and simmer on very low heat for about half an hour. Uncover, add the rest of the thick coconut milk and cook until its done.

If you have a slow cooker you can make a wonderfully tender curry using it. Just follow the instructions from 1-2. Transfer the contents to slow cooker and all the ingredients except water and cook on slow for about 4-5 hours.

Polos Mallun - Jackfruit with coconut

1 can Polos
1 red onion chopped very finely
a few curry leaves
a few green chillies sliced
3 cloves garlic
half tsp mustard seeds or mustard powder
half tsp ground black pepper
half tsp salt
a few pieces goraka
half tsp turmeric
half tsp unroasted curry powder
half a cup of dessicated or grated coconut

Drain the polos and wash it and drain it well. Cut into very tiny pieces.

Place the polos pieces, curry leaves, goraka and a little turmeric. Sprinkle a little water and add some salt. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile grind the onion, garlic, green chilli, mustard seeds and black pepper with salt and add the coconut and grind well. Don't add any water. Use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to do this,

Once the polos is cooked, add the coconut mixture and stir well using a fork or chop stick. Cook on very low heat. Add some lemon or lime juice if you don't use goraka.


Polos achcharu - Jackfruit pickle

1 can jackfruit
100 gms small red onions (shallots) or a red onion if you cannot get shallots
a few fresh green chillies whole
1 cup white vinegar
half a tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground mustard


Wash and drain the Jackfruit and cut into small pieces (about 1 cm) not as tiny as for the mallun. Drain on kitchen paper for a few minutes.
Peel shallots or cut onion into small pieces the same size as polos. Make a slit in each green chillie but don't slice through. Dry with kitchen paper and keep aside.

Heat the vinegar in a stainless steel pot or clay pot Add the turmeric, chilli, mustard powders and salt, Bring to the boil. Add the onions, chillies and polos and stir well  Take it off the heat and pour into a glass bottle which has been sterilised and dried.  Leave overnight before using. Keeps in fridge for a few weeks.