I am incredibly fond of jackfruit seeds. I cook it in several forms, each one tastier than the next. But even for a South Indian like me, this recipe was exotic – and lip-smacking tasty. I don’t get jackfruit seeds in North India where I stay. Thankfully, Amazon India does deliver this from the southern parts of the country. This batch of seeds, however, was procured locally. The only time ripe jackfruit seeds is available in Delhi/NCR is during the Malayalam festival of Vishu. I bought some ripe jackfruit imported from Kerala for the festival. And, of course, saved the seeds. This dish is thanks to the seeds from the ripe jackfruit. I tried this dish of a whim after googling the recipe from Traditionally Modern Cooking from YouTube. Of course, I modified the recipe also removed all traces of oil to make it WFPB compliant. And I have every intention of repeating this dish whenever I have access to jackfruit seeds. I urge all my readers to try this dish – you’ll love it!

Ingredients
To Cook The Dal
1/3 cup pigeon peas (tur dal, thuvaram parupu)
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (haldi, manjal podi)
1/2 cup water
To Cook The Jackfruit Seeds
12 jackfruit seeds (kathal ka beej, palakottai)
1/2 cup water
A pinch of turmeric powder
For The Curry
1 1/2 tbsp sambar powder (recipe under section “Powders & Chutneys” in this blog)
10 shallots
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (sarson, kadugu)
1 cup + 1/3 cup tamarind water (thin water, not paste) – if using paste, dilute with water to obtain a thin watery consistency
Unrefined salt to taste
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
1 sprig curry leaves
A pinch of asafoetida (hing, perunkayam)
1/4 tsp date paste
Water as needed
Method
Wash and soak the pigeon peas for 30 minutes
Using a pestle/mortar, crush the jackfruit and discard the translucent white outer skin
Crush again to your desired size
Add turmeric powder to the soaked pigeon peas
Pour a little water into a pressure cooker
Place the vessel holding the pigeon peas and cover
Place another vessel on top
Add the crushed jackfruit seeds, water and turmeric powder
Cover the vessel containing the jackfruit seeds
Pressure cook for 6 whistles and simmer for another minute
Let the steam release naturally
Open the lid and set aside
Heat a large wok and add mustard seeds
When they begin to splutter, add the shallots
When the shallots become translucent, add the tamarind water and jackfruit seeds
Add salt and boil for 6 minutes
Add the cooked pigeon peas and sambar powder
Add water to adjust consistency
Add the coriander leaves, curry leaves, date paste and asafoetida
Boil for 6 minutes and remove from flame
Serve hot with steamed red/brown/millet rice or idli, dosa, adai…
Enjoy!