Chakka Erissery

Raw jackfruit cooked with a paste of coconut, cumin, and green chilli, then finished with grated coconut fried golden in coconut oil with mustard seeds, shallots, and curry leaves: a curry of the Kerala sadya

Origin: Kerala, India

From the journey of Jackfruit.

Erissery is one of the curries of the sadya, the Kerala feast served on a banana leaf, and it is best known made with pumpkin and red cowpeas; chakka erissery is the jackfruit season's version, made with the full-grown but unripe fruit. The jackfruit is cooked with turmeric and chilli, then with a paste of coconut ground with cumin, green chilli, and garlic, and it is finished in the way that sets erissery apart from every other Kerala curry: a handful of grated coconut is fried golden in coconut oil with mustard seeds, shallots, dried chillies, and curry leaves, and the whole brown, crunchy tempering is poured over the pot. Some cooks leave it thick; others thin it with water into ozhichu erissery, a curry for pouring over rice. In Kerala the unripe jackfruit is a starch, not a sweet, and in its season it takes the place of the pumpkin, the yam, and the plantain in dish after dish. The firm varikka keeps its shape in an erissery; the soft koozha collapses into it.

Ingredients

Jackfruit

700 g full-grown unripe jackfruit bulbs, seeded and cut into 2 cm pieces
8 tender jackfruit seeds, white skin removed, sliced (optional)
0.5 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tsp salt
300 ml water

Coconut Paste

100 g freshly grated coconut
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 green chillies
2 garlic cloves

Tempering

2 tbsp coconut oil
0.5 tsp black mustard seeds
4 small shallots, sliced
2 dried red chillies
1 sprig curry leaves
60 g freshly grated coconut, for roasting

Method

Oil your hands and knife before preparing the jackfruit. Put the pieces, and the seeds if using, in a pan with the turmeric, chilli powder, salt, and water. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes, until soft.
Grind the coconut, cumin, green chillies, and garlic to a smooth paste with a little water. Stir it into the jackfruit, crushing a few of the pieces against the side of the pan, and simmer for 5 minutes.
For the tempering, heat the coconut oil in a small pan, add the mustard seeds, and when they pop add the shallots, dried chillies, and curry leaves.
Add the grated coconut and fry, stirring constantly over a moderate heat, until it is a deep golden brown and smells toasted.
Pour the tempering, oil and all, over the erissery, stir it through, and serve with rice.

Notes

Use jackfruit that is full-grown but still green and firm; ripe fruit makes the curry sweet. The better-known sadya erissery is made the same way with pumpkin and red cowpeas.

The Gastrographer

Name: Chakka Erissery
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 700 g full-grown unripe jackfruit bulbs, seeded and cut into 2 cm pieces; 8 tender jackfruit seeds, white skin removed, sliced (optional); 0.5 tsp ground turmeric; 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; 1 tsp salt; 300 ml water; 100 g freshly grated coconut; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 2 green chillies; 2 garlic cloves; 2 tbsp coconut oil; 0.5 tsp black mustard seeds; 4 small shallots, sliced; 2 dried red chillies; 1 sprig curry leaves; 60 g freshly grated coconut, for roasting

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control