Jackfruit “Chicken” Masala
Photo by Rithika Ramesh
Ingredients
- 200 g jackfruit (kathal), chopped into 1” pieces
- 4 tomatoes
- ⅓ cup cashew nuts, soaked for 4 hours
- Unrefined salt to taste
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1″ pc ginger
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp turmeric (haldi) powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tbsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
Method
Steam the jackfruit for 15 minutes until tender and steam 1 tomato for about 7 minutes. Keep aside.
Drain and rinse the cashew nuts. Pulse in a grinder, with a small quantity of water, to form a thick, smooth paste. Add salt to this and mix the paste well with the cooked jackfruit. Leave aside for 1 hour to marinate.
In a blender, take 3 tomatoes, 1 onion, ginger and garlic and blend well. Take 3 tbsp water in a wok/kadhai. When it heats up, add this paste to it, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Keep cooking, ensuring that it does not burn. This will take about 20 – 25 minutes. You will know it is done when the paste is thick, the bottom of the kadhai is shiny and the paste is not sticking to it.
Blend the steamed tomato to a paste and add to the cooked tomato onion gravy. Add chilli, turmeric and garam masala powders at this stage. Add the jackfruit to the gravy, mix and let it cook for 5-10 minutes. Add more water as required, to bring the gravy to the required consistency. Add kasoori methi and take it off the heat.
Serve with Indian breads – ideally naan or kulcha.
Serves 2-4