Sunday, October 7, 2007

Chakka Varatti/Jack fruit Preserve.

The game is over..and lemme shake hands with bee (who came up with the first right guess),tbc, remya and sumitha who had also guessed right! It was really nice to scroll down the varied guesses ... most of them associating their imaginations with their own regional, traditional sweets..that was the sweetest of you too...:)

Soon after finishing editing this post I was unusually prompted to search the versions of the same in blogosphere.I did find a few fine recipes of Chakka varatti, but very few in all, which made me realise that this is certainly a ‘not-so-common delicacy’, of Kerala Of course, which has yet to be tried by the bloggers..

Being aware of the “hard” reality that this is not “easy” as it sounds…in other words,”beware! my dear friends this is not as easy to prepare as you read through!:)..”..I had less confidence when it came to ‘trying-for-the-first-time’ and kept postponing until I got the right ally; my Mom!!...

Together we started chopping the ripe fruit bulbs, which was not an easy job..(she was particular ‘not’ to churn up in a mixer and wanted the tiny bits undissolved in the end product!), and proceeded to the other ingredients.’Coconut’ was avoided as we prefer without them.The mixing part was done alternatively by her and me in a 7 lt Prestige pressure cooker body.Supposed to be done in Uruli but we avoided that too as it might bring the hazard of spurting all over while boiling the fruit mixture.
After about 1 ½ hours of exertion, we came up with a kilogram of the real traditional Chakka Varatti!!!...it tasted great and was worth the effort!..

So here is the recipe…

Ingredients:
Yielded 1kg, Time to prepare 1 1/2 hrs :D..

Ripe jack fruit bulbs-chopped-6 cups(we used Varikka chakka which is preferred.Refrain from Koozha chakka as it tends to be more fibrous).
Jaggery-crushed to smaller lumps-3 cups
(If weighed, jaggery should not be less than half the weight of the fruit)
Ghee-1 ½ cups
Cardamom powder-a tsp or to flavour as you please

Method:

Pressure cook the jack fruit pieces in 3/4 cup of water until 4-5 whistles.In the mean time, melt jaggery in ½ cup of water till it becomes slightly thick.Filter impurities and add on to cooked fruit.Bring to a boil,this mixture and keeping the flame medium, keep on stirring….on and on.. adding half the quantity of ghee while stirring ..on and on..:)..continuously …( go for a long handled ladle with a flat end so that to have your hands safe from the hot splutters when the pulp boils and bubbles over)…stirring on and on...:).almost .for an hour and a half..:)..till it spreads a wonderful aroma and rolls out to a dark soft ball leaving the edges of the vessel.Add the remaining ghee and mix well along with the cardamom powder.
The darker the hue,the richer the taste and longer the shelf life of the preserve.

The three pictures here represent the stages of preparation in half an hour intervals.

Chakka pradhaman(the diluted payasam with the addition of coconut milk) , Chakka ilayappam(steamed dumplings with the fruity filling, wrapped in banana leaves)and Kumbil appam(steamed in Bay leaves as cones....to be posted soon) are mostly prepared using the above Chakka varatti/chakka vilayichathu as the base ingredient.

May-2007
Jai & Bee of Jugalbandi announced JFI-Jack fruit.Unfortunately I could not be a part of their fabulous round up as I had been away, holidaying.

I dedicate this post to you Bee..

39 comments:

  1. wow..you made chakka varatti...yum! ..it is indeed a biggie...

    ReplyDelete
  2. hello...
    thanks for ur reply....i appreciatate ur each and every dish u made...actually there r 2 types of banana halwa v make....one is banana varatti....its nothing but mash ethapayam with little bit of milk and sugar and microwave that for 7 to 8 min....garnish with cardamom and nuts.......my hubby does this usually....another method is fried one ...thats it...cut ethapay into small semicircle pieces and deep fry inato ghee till colour changes into brown ....as soon as u remove those add sugar ,ghee and cardamom powder so that it stickes tothe fav on to those fryed pieces.....hope all would like this...

    ReplyDelete
  3. boohooo... my bad guess!! this looks lovely! can I get some parceled to my place?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great idea indeed. I have never thought of using jackfruit like this! (Besides, this fruit is very expensive in Australia, so I normally finish it fresh!).

    ReplyDelete
  5. I resent the email... to the same id... Check your spam mail folder :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. this looks divine. it's one of my favourite things to eat, and chakka pradhaman is my fav indian dessert.

    ReplyDelete
  7. bharathy,
    yummy yummy!!!
    chakkavaratti is one of my favourite :)appo pradhaman okke undakki kaanumalle...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ohhh.......I'm salivating!! Save all this for RCI in Jan :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Looks lovely n Yumm...very tempting

    ReplyDelete
  10. ahh...i remember not eating too much of it then cuz of upset stomach.. regretting it now.. wahhhh :(

    ReplyDelete
  11. Preserve is looking great bharathy!:) I am really sorry, I did not take part in the guessing game! I am not in good mood these days dear:( My parents health condition is not good and I am not able to concentrate on anything!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow in the season of jackfruit my mom used to make them and keep it in these huge Barani.
    You are making me homesick.
    They look super delicious.
    While typing this i am jusy drooling and drooling

    ReplyDelete
  13. this is one of my favs. My neighbour "Delhi mami"(that's what I used to call her) used to make this often especially for me.

    ReplyDelete
  14. sorry, I forgot to add. I never knew the recipe before. Thanks for sharing this. Drool-worthy pic.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I missed your last post! other wise I too would have guessed rt! this is my favorite!But I might not be brave enough to cook it! It is a long and tedious job rt!my ma in law prepares this especially for me!hats off to you....why am i not your neighbor? sigh!

    ReplyDelete
  16. soo yummy! super delicious!! came to play your guess game. but the secret is out already!

    ReplyDelete
  17. hey Bharathy...Just went thru ur posts wondering how I missed Chakka varatti.......
    Nice one dear...Looks rich...and it definitely is worth ur effort :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. OMG!!! That looks divine. Thanx for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  19. hmm...this is something to crave for!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I never heard of this dish, I love jack fruit. This looks yummy. I guess you can have this with bread, right??

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thanks Rajitha..:)

    I thought varatti with banana too involves this stirring up process with ney and sarkara!..Then whatt is banana halwa..;)..same?with milk and sugar!?..I know the other ghee fried round slice prep..make that very often.Suma. Hugs to you for all those encouraging words!,,and the very sweet reply:)
    Looking forward to your recipes too :)..

    Of course..in exchange to my share of Amrish??..pls..:D
    He he Sharmi dear..I do appreciate your spirit to participate!!:)..its a pleasure to have you here..


    Anh,its not exp here,but as I am a lazy lady I too end up with the same..gobbling up the fruits!!:)

    Sigma Kutta kittiyeda kitti..Hugs da..have to go thru carefully when I am really relaxed da..:)

    Oh yeah,Bee I love that pic and recipe of your chakka pradahaman..thought of giving a link too..then dropped as it was made frm the fruit,directly..

    Illada..prajusha..I have never tried chakka pradhaman...more than that this varatti was finished in a week!..he he..

    What is RCI??Jyo??;) :)..and what has this to do with that??;)

    Welcome here..apple!..thanks for leaving the comment..:)

    Oh-yeah nags..I do remember!..and the whole preserve was finished before you revived..:D

    I prayed for you Lathamma..God is Great!!

    Thnkyou happy cook!!:)

    Kudos to Delhi mami for taking the effort to have pleased you,Kribha..

    ReplyDelete
  22. Now I feel I should have let the game on for a couple of days..Yes it is a tedious job..but I enjoyed trying it with my mom..Nice to have such a great ma in law..:)
    I too could have learnt more abt the art of Mohiniyattam if you were near me da nandikutty..(Sigh)

    Yeah..thats why I invited you as soon as I posted..Lizzie..:)

    Have you heard abt this Sirisha??!!I thought you might not be familiar with this one..:)..Thank you dear!!

    Thankyou Pushpa..:)

    Thanks for visiting Mishmash..it's a pleasure to have you here!!

    Shiva..hmm..err..not a jam really!!Can be had like a dessert!!:)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Don't know the taste but with your Mom being the allie it sure will be great :) But it was lengthy process huh ?

    ReplyDelete
  24. hi Bharathy, thanks for ur support on my kappa-ordeal!!!...afterall, i like my mom's cooking u know..so do try her things out...this guy doesnt know that there are many things that can be made with kappa, u know!..just kidding..
    pinnae, chakka varattiieeee...ummmm!!..have had it only after i got married and came to ktym...my new aunties, showed me this things, and asked me the same thing...sona, u know what this is???..anyway, that time,after tasting , i did guess it right!..chakkaaaa,,,miss u, dear chakkaaassss!!!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I dint know of this dish before! Ur step by step process is v explanatory..time to try :) Thanks for the recipe

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oh man..I guessed wrongly,sorry..But I havent seen this varatti ever before...thats why...Heehee..Anyway thanx for the mini guessing game u organized...It was really fun...!!And thanx for the recipe too..:))

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hats off for the effort you must have put in lady,it looks yummie.
    And thank u somuch for the blog award,i was away due to some personal reasons,back and will be regular here again:)

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hey bharathy,
    you and Nags are sisters, thats a welcome news...both of you into cooking and with your own blogs....thats rare to find
    The dish looks wonderful, isnt it a preserve...hope it lasts till I come to Chennai at the end of this month...:) just kidding

    ReplyDelete
  29. Yes bharathy, I too am fed up reading about the bread that cannot be sent to us!:( We will dtart some chain! It need not be bread. What about some maavu for making murukku etc. Let me know your opinion. I too will think of some new idea!:))

    ReplyDelete
  30. so how far away are you from chennai? i am wondering if some of that will come safely by post - its so not fair to have it all by yourself - that too jackfruit!!!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I don't mind having this if you do the preparation :D. Looks divine...

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thanks Bharathy for the wishes..

    ReplyDelete
  33. this looks like a nice dish...and no, I could have never guessed what it was!:)

    how about participating in the AFAM-Peach event on my blog this time? also, adding you to my blogroll!:)

    ReplyDelete
  34. Bharathy, thanks for the comment about the pantain fritters in the JFI roundup. I have no problem with having it in part1... as long as it's a part of the roundup, I'm fine. I don't want to create more work for Mandira... she's busy enough already:-)

    ReplyDelete
  35. Bharathy ...I love this one..My grandma used to make it when we used to vist her for vacations back in india...Die hard fan of it ...too good ....

    ReplyDelete
  36. Chakka varatti looks nalla tasty. My dad's favorite. But I cant make it here, coz we dont get chakka in Delhi. Poor Daddy. Adata pravasham indakumbol korachu kodatu vidanam

    ReplyDelete
  37. any one knows how to make Chakka idly ???

    ReplyDelete
  38. Thank you soo much for this recipe! I was craving chakka varatti and i could'nt remember the recipe. I am trying it out with canned chakka, as i cannot get the fresh ones here in CA. I hope it turns out alright.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Bharathy the chakka varathi looks awesome... do u have any idea wher i can get chakkai in US? the frozen ones r not that good...:( I am dying for a spoon ful of this divine sweet My chitti who is a kozhikode used to make this often... even my attai...:)

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...