Jackfruit Idli with Mango Chuteny

Jackfruit… There is something about jackfruit which fascinates me all the time. The huge spiky hard exterior which contains sweet golden yellow sheaths has always been one of my favorite fruits. I remember the days when my sister, brother and myself would always find some reason to stay away from volunteering to pare and seed the jackfruit. Once the sticky glue was removed and the golden flesh is separated, we kids would happily go and sit cross legged on the floor next to the big cane basket which would be filled with sweet jackfruits and happily eat one after the other. Amma would sit there peeling sheaths of fruit and tell us her childhood memories where she with her sisters and brothers and some dozens of cousins would gather and have fun while peeling jackfruit from its sticky sheaths and burn the jackfruit seeds in open fire. Although I am lucky to have many cousins, it is no where close to what my parents have. I can very well imagine the fun my parents had while growing up with their siblings and cousins in a large joint family.

My amma makes many dishes using both raw and ripe jackfruits. Apart from Kodhel(coconut based sambar from Mangalore), Majjige Huli(buttermilk based) and Playa(stir fried vegetables) the raw jackfruit is used in preparing pakodas and also they were preserved in salt water to make Rotti, Playa and Sambar and also a crunchy munchy called Undla Kalu. the ripe jackfruit is used to make Kottige(steam cooked rice cake using banana leaves), Payasa, Berati (Jackfruit Jam) and Papads. The seeds of the jackfruits were used in Palya and Laddu.

First when I heard about this months Jhiva ingredient I wanted to make traditional, authentic Mangalorean dish called Kottige/Kadubu which is very similar to Genasale, steam cooked rice cake with coconut and jaggery. I couldn’t find any banana leaves here and was not feeling very adventurous to use aluminum foil in place of them. So ended up making Jackfruit Idli. I used same ingredients used to make Jackfruit Kottige and steam cooked them in Idli stand. Served these sweet idilies with sour and spicy Raw Mango Chutney. Here is my entry for this month’s JFI-Jackfruit which is hosted by daring and darling couple Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi fame. I am contributing the recipe of Mango chuteny for this month's AFAM-Mango which is hosted by lovely Deepa of Recipes 'n More. Thank you Ashakka for reminding me:)

Jackfruit Idli with Mango Chuteny

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Jackfruit/Halasina Hannu Idli
Prep Time: 15-20 mins (excluding soaking time)
Cooking Time: 20-25 mins
Serves: 4-5

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Ingredients:
2 cups Rice
2 cups Jackfruit, cut into small pieces
½ cup grated Coconut
½-¾ cup Jaggery (Acc to taste)
¼ tsp Cardamom Powder (Optional)
¼ tsp Cooking Soda
½ tsp Salt

Jackfruit Idli with Mango Chuteny

Method:

Soak rice in water for 1-2 hours or overnight.
Grind the rice with freshly grated coconut, salt, cooking soda and jaggery to smooth paste. The paste should be of dosa batter consistency.
To this add chopped jackfruit and cardamom powder and mix well.
Now either you can steam cook using banana leaves or using Idli stand. If you are using banana leaves follow the steps showed for Genasale.
If you are using idli stand, grease the idli plate with oil/ghee and pour a ladle full of batter and steam cook them in pressure cooker for 10-15 minutes.
Let it cool for few minutes before serving the idlis with spicy mango chutney and ghee.

A closer look at Jackfruit Idli

Best side dish for these Jackfruit Idli is spicy and tangy Raw Mango Chutney. It's a marriage made in heaven. Here is the recipe for making Mango Chuteny.

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Mango Chutney
Prep Time: 5-10 mins
Cooking Time: -
Serves: 3-4

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Ingredients:
1 small Raw Mango
1 tsp Mustard Seeds, lightly roasted
2-3 Green Chillies
½ inch Ginger
1 cup Grated Coconut
Salt to taste

Mango Chuteny

Method:
Peel the mango discarding its pit and cut it into chunks.
Combine all the ingredients and grind it to smooth paste.
You can add more chillies if you prefer very spicy chutney to go with sweet Jackfruit Idli.

Jackfruit Idli with Mango Chuteny

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Did You Know?
The jackfruit is believed indigenous to the rain forests of the Western Ghats of India.
Male and female flowers are borne in separate flower-heads.
Jackfruit is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world, reaching 80 pounds in weight and up to 36 inches long and 20 inches in diameter.
There may be 100 or up to 500 seeds in a single fruit, which are viable for no more than three or four days.
There are two main varieties. In one, the fruits have small, fibrous, soft, mushy, but very sweet carpels with a texture somewhat akin to a raw oysters. The other variety is crisp and almost crunchy though not quite as sweet. This form is the more important commercially and is more palatable to western tastes.
(Source:www.crfg.org)

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Jackfruit Idli with Mango Chuteny

See the picture here which I got from Kamat’s Potpouri where the members of joint family are seen cleaning the jackfruit.

Idli-Vada-Sambar

At last…. It’s a time for the Queen of South Indian breakfast dish: Idli-Vada with Sambar. I call idli as a queen because for some reason the title of king belongs to Dosas:) This Sunday we had Idli-Vada with delicous bowl of Sambar for breakfast. My hubby and my dad are big fans I have ever seen when it comes to Idli-Vada. The steaming fluffy and soft Idlis with little spicy and tasty Vadas dipped in delicious Sambar… Awww…. Nothing is better than that. I won’t talk a lot about it because I have got to post 3 recipes in one post:). So talk less and work more is today's theme ;) Here we go…

Idli-Vada-Sambar

Recipe for Idli:
Ingredients:
2 cups of Rice
1 cup Urad Dal
Salt to taste

Soft and Fluffy Idlis

Method:
Soak rice and urad dal separately in water for 2-3 hours.
First grind the urad dal to smooth paste. Remember that smoother the better.
Then grind rice to a coarse paste. Make sure that you don’t grind rice to smooth paste.
Mix them together adding required salt to slightly thick paste. The batter should be thicker than the dosa batter you prepare.
Keep it covered to ferment for overnight.
Next day pour a ladle of batter into idli maker and steam cook in medium flame for 15-20 minutes till they are done.
Let them cool for few minutes (3-4 minutes) before you take them out. This way the idli will be fluffy and soft.
Serve hot with Coconut Chutney and steaming bowl of Sambar.

Recipe for Vada:
Ingredients:
1 cup of Urad Dal
2-3 Green Chillies, chopped finely
¾ inch Ginger, chopped finely
2 tbsp Coriander Leaves, finely chopped
Salt to taste

Delicious Vadas

Method:
Soak urad dal in water for 1-2 hours.
Grind them coarsely adding very little water. (Little means very little)
Add chopped coriander leaves, ginger, green chillies and salt as required.
Mix them well together with hands. Add little water if required.
Make small lime sized balls and press them slightly using your palm.
With your finger make a small hole in the center.
Deep fry them in hot oil till they turn into lovely golden brown colour.
Serve hot with Coconut Chutney and Sambar. Delicious….

Recipe for Onion Sambar:
Ingredients:
1 cup Small Onions
1/2 cup Thuar Dal/Red gram Dal
1 medium lime sized Tamarind
2 Tomatoes, sliced
2 Green Chillies, slit
Small bunch of Coriander leaves, Chopped finely
2 tsp Oil
Salt to taste
For Seasoning:
1 tsp Oil
1 tsp Mustard
2 Red chillies
1/4 tsp Hing/Asafetida
Few curry leaves
To Roast & Grind:
2 tsp Dhania/Coriander Seeds
11/2 tsp Urad Dal/Black gram Dal
1 tsp Jeera/Cumin Seeds
2 tsp Channa/Bengal gram Dal
4-5 Red Chillies
1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 Medium Onion, roughly chopped
1 Tomato, roughly chopped
1/4 cup of Grated Coconut
3 tsp Oil

Onion Sambar

Method:
Heat 1tsp of Oil and roast the above ingredients until golden.
Fry 1 onion and 1 tomato separately with little oil.
Grind everything with grated coconut to a smooth paste.
Heat Oil in a shallow pan and fry the small onion for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add enough water and boil it till soft.
Cook red gram dal in pressure cooker and mash well.
Mix cooked onion, mashed dal, tamarind extract, tomatoes, green chillies and ground paste with salt and enough water and bring it to boil.
When the sambar is thick enough remove from fire.
Heat oil and add mustard seeds, red chillies, curry leaves and hing.
When mustard starts spluttering add this seasoning to sambar.
Serve hot Sambar garnished with chopped coriander leaves with Rice, Idlis or Dosas.

Idli-Vada-Sambar

Final Verdict:
You may be thousands of miles away from your country, but your roots are still deep down in your hometown. You may try different foods from different continents but the one which will always make you smile is the one from your mom’s kitchen. What better example can I give than the simple yet unbeatable taste of Idli-Vada with Sambar!!! Their simplicity takes your breath away and their taste wipes you off your feet, other than your loved one’s charm;) The pleasure you get from this type of dishes is only known when you try it out. It will surely bring back lot of good old memories.
Well… As expected you can never go wrong with Idli-Vadas. If you follow the instructions from your mom, step by step, then you will surely make a soft and fluffy idlis with yummy vadas. And not to forget the million dollar smile from my dear hubby:)

Idli-Vada-Sambar

Rava Idlis

If you are a South Indian then one thing which will always follow you everywhere is Idli-Sambar. Be it a small hotel or gaadiwala or some ‘sagar’ hotels, the white, soft and fluffy Idli’s with big bowl of mouth watering Sambar and Coconut Chutney will take your breath away.
Here I’m posting a recipe another version of idli called Rava Idlis. The only common thing between Rice idlis and Rava idlis are their shape and the way they are steam cooked. The ingredients, method of preparing the batter, colour and taste everything is different from one another.

Rava Idlis with Coconut Chutney and Onion Sambar

Ingredients:
2 cups of Rava/Semolina
¼ tsp Cooking Soda
1 cup Butter Milk/Sour Curds
1 tbsp Ghee/Oil
1 tbsp Mustard
1 tbsp Urad Dal
1 ½ tbsp Channa Dal
1 tbsp chopped Curry Leaves
1 tbsp finely chopped Green Chillies
10-12 Cashew Nuts
2-3 tbsp Raisins
2 tbsp chopped Coriander Leaves
¼ cup grated Carrots
Salt to taste

Ready to steam cook

Ready to cook in Microwave

Method:
Heat ghee in a pan and add cashew nuts and channa dal. Fry them till they turns slightly golden colour.
To this add urad dal, mustard, chopped curry leaves, green chillies and raisins. Fry them till mustard starts spluttering.
Now add the rava/semolina and fry them in a low flame till semolina turns golden and switch off the gas. Let the mixture cool down.
To this add salt, cooking soda, butter milk, chopped coriander leaves, grated carrots and mix well.
Add enough water to make a batter of idli consistency (little thicker than dosa batter) and keep aside for half an hour.
Pour a ladle full of batter into idli plates and steam cook them for 15-20 minutes till they are done.
You can also make idlis in microwave using idli container and cook them for 7-10 minutes as per instruction. Serve hot rava idlis with Onion Sambar and Coconut Chutney.

Colourful Rava Idlis

Tip:
You can prepare and store this rava mixure in air tight container for 1-2 weeks and can be used as and whenever required to make rava idlis.

Rava Idlis served with Onion Sambar & Coconut Chutney