Chakka Varetti | Jackfruit Preserve

How are you all ? Hope all are doing good.I was to totally busy attending two marriages lined up in the last few days. Marriages are always a great time to catch up with friends,cousins and relatives. Also,you get time to hog good food .Kids also enjoyed their time with their cousins. All is done and we are back to our normal routine.This year's chakka(jackfruit) season is almost to an end and I know many of you might have preserved the jackfruit in many ways.One of the best way to preserve jackfruit is chakka varetti. This stays good for a year if handled properly.There are many recipes made with this preserve like unniyappam, kumbilappam,  chakka pradhaman, chakka ela ada and so on. I have always carried my mom's made chakka varetti until I tried my hand on this since last year. This is definitely a time consuming,energy consuming process but the end product is just awesome. Its always better to make in larger batches and preserve in small jars so that each time you can use up a jar and that way the freshness is sealed well. Stay tuned for more recipes with chakka varetti !!! :)

Preparation time ~ 30 mins
Cooking time~ 40 mins-1 hour
Serves ~ one medium sized bowl
Ingredients
jackfruit / chakka 3 cups
jaggery / sharkara 1.5 cups
cumin powder /jeeraka podi 1/2 tsp
cardamom powder / elakka podi 1/2 tsp
dry ginger powder / chukku podi  1/2 tsp
ghee / neyyu  2 tbsp

Method

• De seed the jackfruit and slice the jackfruit in pieces.Cook the jackfruit pieces in one cup water in a pressure cooker for one whistle on high heat. Switch off flame and wait till pressure is released. Let it cool and puree in a mixer.
• Heat a pan and melt the jaggery in half cup water. Continue heating the jaggery and get it to one string consistency. One string consistency- take a little syrup from the back of the spatula or spoon and press it in between the thumb and index finger. When you pull the fingers apart,a string forms is the one string consistency. At this point, add in the jackfruit puree.

• Use a long handed spoon or spatula and keep mixing.Keep the flame on medium heat ,stir in between.Initially you may find the bubbles rising up on top and splashing outside.Its better to close the pan at this point on medium low heat and wait till the splashes settle.There are chance you may get burns.
• Continue stirring till the mixture is reduced considerably. Add in the ghee and all the powders listed, mix well.
• Keep mixing until the mixture turns brown and starts to leave the sides of the pan.
• Transfer to a clean dry bowl and leave to cool.
• You can serve it just like that or use for chakka varetti used recipes like chakka unniyappam, kumbilappam, chakka ada and so on. If not using just like that, store in clean dry containers.This can be stored for a year.

NOTES

* Chakka is a seasonal fruit and may not be available all throughout the year. So this is an excellent way to preserve the fruit.

* Use clean dry spoons to scoop out preserve each time and use air tight containers so that it remains fresh all through the year.

* The color of the preserve totally depends on the type of jaggery you use.I have used the dark brown coloured jaggery.