Polos curry

Sri Lankan young jackfruit curry: tender polos simmered in coconut milk with a generous length of Ceylon cinnamon, curry leaves, rampe, and roasted curry powder

Origin: Sri Lanka

From the journey of Jackfruit.

Polos is the Sinhala name for jackfruit picked very young, before the seeds have formed, when the whole fruit, core and all, is tender enough to cook as a vegetable. Robert Knox recorded the word in 1681, amongst the names the Kandyans gave the fruit at each stage of its life: polos when young, cose when full-grown, and warracha or vellas when ripe. Polos curry is a dark, well-spiced curry, quite unlike the pale kiri kos made from the mature fruit: the young jackfruit is simmered in coconut milk with roasted curry powder, curry leaves, rampe (pandan), and a generous length of cinnamon bark, and it is better the day after it is made. Sri Lanka is the home of true cinnamon, Cinnamomum verum, and the island uses it as a structural spice rather than a sweet accent, as polos curry shows. The jackfruit is its rice tree, bath gasa: the fruit that, as Knox put it, the Sinhalese boiled 'to save Rice and fill their Bellies'.

Ingredients

Main

  • 400 g young green jackfruit (polos), fresh, peeled, cored, and cut into 3 to 4 cm cubes, or tinned young jackfruit in brine, drained and cubed
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil

Aromatics

  • 1 large onion, finely sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 fresh green chillies, sliced
  • 2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
  • 1 pandan leaf, optional

Spices

  • 1 cinnamon stick, approx 5cm
  • 1 tbsp Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
  • 0.5 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp chilli powder

Liquid

  • 400 ml coconut milk

Seasoning

  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Method

  1. If using fresh polos, oil your hands and knife, pare away the skin, cut out the core, and cut the young fruit into 3 to 4 cm cubes; boil them in salted water for 10 minutes and drain. If using tinned jackfruit, drain it, rinse it under cold water, and cut it into cubes. Pat dry.
  2. Heat the coconut oil in a medium saucepan or curry pot over medium heat. Add the curry leaves, cinnamon stick and pandan leaf (if using) and fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 8-10 minutes until soft and beginning to turn golden.
  4. Add the garlic, ginger and green chillies. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Add the roasted curry powder, turmeric and chilli powder. Stir to coat the onions and cook the spices for 1-2 minutes.
  6. Add the jackfruit pieces and stir well to coat with the spice mixture.
  7. Pour in the coconut milk and stir to combine. Season with salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  8. Cover and cook on low-medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the jackfruit is tender and has absorbed the flavours of the curry.
  9. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the cinnamon stick and pandan leaf before serving. Serve with steamed rice or roti.

Notes

This curry improves significantly if made a day ahead and reheated. The cinnamon stick should be left in during cooking but removed before serving. Polos is the very young fruit. The full-grown but unripe fruit, kos, is cooked in coconut milk as kiri kos, which the atlas also carries.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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