E(n)chorer Dalna...Raw Jackfruit curry-Bengali style

Raw Jackfruit or Ee(n)chor is eaten as a vegetable and not just eaten but is a delicacy in Bengali Vegetarian cuisine! And in Bengali it's also jokingly called 'Gaachh Paa(n)tha'.... literally translated, that would mean 'Tree + Goat meat'..and meant to say that Raw Jackfruit curry tastes as good as Goat Meat, but is of course vegetarian !! ;))

As a kid I would neither touch or taste either the ripe or raw version of the fruit/vegetable. As I grew up, I developed a taste for the vegetable version but the strong aroma of the fruit version (Kathaal) could never lure me into tasting it!

Seeing the rare sight of raw Jackfruits on the shelves of the supermarket and knowing my homehelp would take care of the tough part of cutting it, I bought a medium sized one.

Ingredients :

Tender raw jackfruit, cut into small cubes and blanched/steamed in salt water

One small onion chopped

One small onion paste

Ginger paste - 1 tsp

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Tomato chopped (optional)

Two potatoes cubed

Bay leaf / Tej Pata - 1

Garam Masala whole - 3-4 elaichi (Cardamom) + 1 " cinnamon stick + 2-3 clove pieces

Haldi (Turmeric) powder - 1 tbsp

Jeera (Cumin) Powder - 1 tsp

Chili powder - 1 tsp

Kashmiri Mirch - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Sugar - 1 tbsp

Mustard Oil preferably

Procedure :

1. Smear the potato cubes with salt and turmeric and fry and Keep aside

2. Lightly fry the cubed and blanched jackfruit pieces. Keep aside

3. In oil, throw the Bay leaf and whole Garam  Masala.

4. Add a tsp of Garlic paste

5. Add a pinch of sugar and the finely chopped onions.

6. Fry till light brown, then add the ginger paste followed by onion paste. Fry well till nicely browned.

7. Make a mix of the masala paste - Turmeric + Jeera powder + Kashmiri mirch + Chili Powder + salt with little water

8. Add to the fried onions. Cook well on medium to high heat (Koshano as we say in Bengali) till the oil separates out.

9. Add the blanched and fried Jackfruit / Ee(n)chor pieces into the masala and mix well on medium heat. Sprinkle some water if too dry. Add the potatoes.

Continue cooking till the vegetables are soft and cooked.

Finish off with a dash of ghee (clarified butter)...

This post is off to Weekend Herb Blogging #363 started Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and organised by HAALO and  hosted for the week by ELENA of ZIBALDONE CULINARIO