Chakkapazham(jackfruit)season is almost to an end now and all Seasonal fruits like jackfruit or mango make us wait a year to enjoy them again. I know that many are in a rush to preserve the various edible parts of Keralites favourite fruit in whichever possible way they can, Right? The onset of monsoon is also delayed, giving us ample time to sun dry and preserve the jackfruit in whichever forms possible. Chakkapazham thera(pappad) is an age-old way of preserving fruits like mango, jackfruit and those days there was no cooking involved, it was just made into a paste and spread to dry on a panambu(bamboo ply). They can be then cut in thin strips or the strips can be rolled up, stored and enjoyed thereafter throughout the year. This year I tried my hands on drying this fruit for the first time as pappad or thera, and it was a fruitful experience. The only concern to me was it shouldn't rain when it's sun drying and thankfully there wasn't any down pour.
The chakkapazham thera takes around three days to sun dry at the most and the time totally depends on the heat of the sun too. The longer the drying time the darker the shades of the thera(pappad). I sun dried it for 4 -5 days and thee can be stored at room temperature in airtight containers. But I have stored in fridge as I didn't wish to take any risk and I thaw the pieces whenever we munch them on. The quantity of jackfruit will be reduced considerably once you make the thera(papad)form. One whole jackfruit may yield only twenty pieces of the sun dried fruit. I was very happy with the outcome that kids can munch the preservative free fruit year long and we have maximum utilized the jackfruits when in season. As the season is getting over in most places and I got a little late to post this but do bookmark this recipe and try in the next season!!
MORE PRESERVE RECIPES :
Preparation time ~ 10 minutes
Cooking time ~ 20 minutes
Serves ~20 pieces
Author ~ Julie
Ingredients
chakka chula (jackfruit) 20 ripe bulbs / 3 cups pulp
granulated sugar 100 gms
cardamom powder / elakka podi 1/2 tsp
ghee/ neyyu 2 tsp
Method
- Remove the ripe bulbs from the jackfruit and deseed. Chop the jackfruit pieces and add in a mixer jar, make a smooth paste without adding any water. Please make sure that there are no solid pieces left out in the pulp or else strain the pulp if possible but straining looks a tedious task as the pulp is thick and so grind it very smooth without any pieces.
- Transfer this pulp to a heavy bottomed pan and add the sugar. Heat this mixture on a low medium flame as the mixture starts to splatter (if we do on a high flame). Continuous stirring is needed to avoid hot splashes. You may require to stir this mixture for about 10-15 minutes till the consistency looks thick and starts to coat the stirring spoon. Add the cardamom powder and mix well (The longer cooking time reduces the sun dry time but if the mixture is very thick then it becomes hard to spread on a plate).
- Smear ghee in steel plates preferably and pour the mango mixture in the plate as a thin layer(spread using a spatula).The thinner the layer, the faster will be the drying process(I could pour in three plates).
- Sun dry the plates with the mixture for 2-4 days(cover the top of the plate with a muslin cloth or paper towel as there are chances of fly attracting or dirt getting sticked on top of the mixture especially in the initial two days till the top looks unsticky. (The thinner the layer and the sun's strong heat decides the drying time). Mine was done in three days.
- Run a knife along the edges of the dried pappad(thera) and peel the pappad from the plate. Cut in strips and preserve as bars or roll the thin strips if possible. Store in airtight containers for future use in refrigerator.
NOTES
* Unlike the mango pappad this mixture is thick and so the cooking time is reduced compared to mango pappad.
* The measure of sugar can be altered as per tastes and sweetness of chakka but you should definitely add sugar as it acts as a preservative too.
* You can even add a pinch of salt to balance the flavours.
* If the sunlight option doesn't work, you may even try baking the mixture by pouring in trays. But I haven't tried that yet.
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wow..just wow...I seriously need to look out for some jackfruit to try. These would make a fabulous snack.
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