Jackfruit Seeds, known as Palakottai in Tamil and Panasa Ginjalu in Telugu are really tasty. If you are a fan of jack fruit like me, there is a high chance that you love the seeds too. Growing up, I would wait patiently for dad to cut open a large jack fruit, separating each piece out, storing them carefully to last a few days and we would save the jackfruit seeds too. Once dried for a couple of days, dad would pressure cook them and make either a dry curry or masala. I used to simply love it, for it would be different from the food amma made every day. And then, Priya aunty (our beloved neighbor) used to make a curry using palakottai and potatoes. She would bring a small hot bowl of this for us and we would relish it. I have taken inspiration from both these dishes to make my Palakottai Varuval – Jack Fruit Seeds Roast.
The recipe to make this Palakottai Varuval, a roast using jack fruit seeds is very simple. Pressure cooked jack fruit seeds are tempered and roasted on lowest flame along with onions, with very typical tamil spices – fresh coriander powder, chilli powder and sambar powder. Fresh Curry Leaves add an amazing flavor to this varuval. I make this in my cast iron pan, slowly roasting everything until they are crispy on the outside and yet, they are soft & melt-in-mouth inside. I served this with hot rice and raw mango sambar – it was out of the world, even if I say so myself. If you get jack fruit seeds, do try out this recipe.
📖 Recipe
Cut each palakottai/jackfruit seed in half and remove the white outer layer. Pressure cook for 2 whistles with enough water. You can also remove the white part after pressure cooking them.
Once the pressure drops naturally, remove the cooked jack fruit seeds and drain off the excess water.
In a cast iron pan heat oil. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal and asafoetida.
As the dal turns golden, add fresh curry leaves and crushed garlic pods. Fry for a few seconds.
Add chopped onions, fry until translucent.
Now add cooked jack fruit seeds. Stir fry them for a couple of minutes.
Add coriander powder, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt as needed. Cook for 6-7 mins on low flame until there is no raw smell from the spice powders.
Next add sambar powder and cook again for 3-4 mins on low flame.
Now add 2-3 tablespoon of water and mix everything up. This will bring everything together.
Continue cooking until the water dries up. Remove from heat.
Serve hot as a side dish with hot rice and sambar/rasam.
Adjust spices as per preference. Apart from jack fruit seeds, the same recipe can be made with any root vegetable or even brinjals.
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