Chakkakkuru Manga Aviyal- A Guest Post By Honey

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Honey doesn't need an introduction from me. Most of you know her as Sarah Naveen. She is the author and all in all of "Vazhayila.com", the wonderful blog dedicated to Kerala recipes. Honey has an amazing collection of recipes from Kuttanadu,the backwater region in central Kerala. Kuttanadu has its own cuisine, which is quite popular among the foodies around the world.She has a collection of Kerala Syrian Christian specials as well. Check out her scrumptious Chicken olarthiyathu and lip-smacking Kuttanadan Fish Curry.

Honey is like a sister to me. When we started talking I told her that Sunitha and I think that she is one of our juniors from our degree college, where we had so many great juniors as friends.She is a wonderful person ,an amazing photographer and a great cook. I am so happy to have her here to share her grandma's recipe with the readers of Collaborative Curry.This is one of my favorite recipes. Welcome to Collaborative Curry, dear Honey. Thanks so much for doing this post, in spite of your busy schedule and a fever.I am so grateful to have great friends like you.



Rarely do I come across such people who leaves a profound impact on me ; who is so much fun to talk to ; who spreads joy and comfort around, and at times who acts like a sister . Namitha is one such person.
I don't know exactly when I started talking to her, creating a new bond, an "unseen" friendship from miles away. Unseen - I am yet to see her in person; Unseen - I never saw myself crafting a friendship with a person, I have known only through blogging.
We don't talk everyday or every week,but never less than an hour :)

Jackfruit Chips/ Chakka Upperi

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   Jackfruits are one of the biggest blessing during humid summers in Kerala.  Loved as much as the mangoes we use this summer fruit in manifold ways to turnover scrummy dishes.  Believe me when I say this we really make use of every part.  The fruity flesh is enjoyed as is and turned into cooked sweet delicacies.  When raw we cook them fine adding chilies and coconut and make a savory side dish for rice or eat is with spicy fish curry or pickle.  Coming to the seeds it can be turned into unbelievable variety of dishes as well.  Paired with other vegetables or alone they make great dishes to be enjoyed with rice. 

  It makes me drool just writing about all the delicious stuff.  Without further ado today's recipe is the crispy fries made with the raw flesh of the jackfruit.  They are one of our favorites and while in Kerala I had a chance to make them with family.  It was a wonderful time both making and munching on them over tea and chitchat while the rain splashed away keeping pace with our own relentless chatter.  Simple pleasures of life.

  By the way, I did mean it when I said we use every part of the jackfruit.  The jagged outer husk is fed to the cattle.



Ingredients:

Raw Jackfruit(take only the edible white part)
Salt
Oil

Method:

1.Clean the raw chakkachula (edible white part)and slice it equally.Cut off both the top and bottom edges.
2.Bring the oil to smoking hot.
3.Throw in the pieces and fry till it is done. The time depends on the thickness of the pieces.
4.Add some salt water slowly into the pan ,be careful while doing so, since the oil will splutter around.If you are using a smaller pan you could cover it up, if not stay as far as you can :-)
5.Take out and spread on a paper towel and let cool before storing in an airtight container.



Here is the picture of some jackfruits from our yard ,back in Kerala.In fact when went they were almost over, though we were lucky enough to eat them in all forms.And I got to click the last remaining ones for you all :-)

Chakkakkuru-Manga Curry/ Jackfruit Seeds and Raw Mango Curry

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In Kerala, we make use of almost everything from the Jack fruit tree.  Excuse the exaggeration but think about it.  We use the leaf to scoop gruel and in spite of having cutlery we still do it for fun.  We cook the jack-fruit when its raw and eat it with a gravy, when ripe, ofcourse, we eat them as you would any other fruit.  We seldom stop there.  Steamed rice flour topped with jack-fruit, mix of rice flour and fruit pressed between a banana leaf and pan baked are all but a few things variations.  The outer covering cut into small pieces are fed to the cattle.  Now for the seed.  The topic of today's discussion.  Its hard and seems rock like when raw but when cooked powders like baked potato.  Most times it is sauteed with coconut pieces or otherwise made into the scrumptious gravy paired with mangoes like I am sharing with you.  Another summer treat these are some dishes which makes me nostalgic beyond my own comprehension. Hope you will see now that it si no exaggeration when I say we make good use of Jack-fruit tree.



Ingredients:

Raw Mango slices- 1/2 cup (3/4th of a mango)
Jackfruit seeds- 10-12
Turmeric powder- 1/4 tsp
Coconut grated- 3-4 Tbsp
Cumin seeds(jeera)- 1/4 tsp
Green chillies- 2
Shallot- 1

For seasoning:
Coconut/ any cooking oil- 2 tsp
Mustard seeds- 1/4 tsp
Red chillies- 2
Curry leaves- 1 sprig

Method:

1.Slice the mango after removing the skin. Cut each jackfruit seed into 4 pieces.
2.Cook the Mango slices and jack fruit seeds together after adding some salt and turmeric and water in a pressure cooker.
3.Grind together the grated coconut, cumin, green chillies and shallot together.
4.Mix this with the cooked veggies and cover and cook again for 3-4 minutes.
5.In a small pan do the seasoning(heat the oil,splutter the mustard seeds and throw in the red chillies and curry leaves and saute) and pour over the curry. Mix and serve with rice.



Notes:

1.You may want to add or reduce the number of mango slices,depending on its sourness level.Mine was medium sour.
2.If the mango slices are not mashed even after the seeds are cooked, mash them gently.
3.This is not recommended for people who have gastritis problems

I won a giveaway by Gina of Simply life and see what I got. A package of POPCHIPS which had all the 6 flavors, 4 packets each. We all loved it and thanks again Gina :-)





Contributor: Namitha