Jackfruit Fritters (Phansa Mulik)

May 20, 2015 Posted by Shweta Shanbhag

Jackfruit (Phanas/Ponas in Konkani) both ripe and raw is used frequently in Konkani Cooking. Raw jackfruit (Kadgi in konkani, kathal in hindi) is cooked with a lot of different pulses in our curries. The seed of jackfruit is dried and stored and again added to pulse gravies. Even the leaves from the jackfruit tree are used to make Khotto (Idlis). But my favourite is the sweet ripe jackfruit pods. I can never have enough of it. I also like to cook these jackfruit fritters and store them in the refrigerator so that I can eat the jackfruits for a longer time. We get these ripe jackfruit in summers and then in the early rainy season.

Ingredients

12 jackfruit pods (remove the seeds and the skin outside)

2 tbsp Bombay Rava (semolina)

2 tbsp Grated coconut

Jaggery according to taste

Cardamom/Elaichi powder

Salt

Method

Grind around ripe 20 Jackfruits pods and grated Coconut grated in a mixie to get a coarse paste. You can add some water if needed to help you grind the jackfruit.
Add Rava (Semolina) to the jackfruit mixture. Add a pinch of salt according to taste. Add 1 tbsp grated jaggery in case the dough is not sweet enough. You can substitute jaggery with brown sugar if needed. Make it into a cake dough like consistency.
You can add 1/2 tsp elaichi powder here to the dough but I generally avoid it.
I add some finely chopped jackfruits for added texture to the dough. Rest the dough for 15 mins so that the semolina has absorbed the moisture.
Heat oil in a kadhai. Make small balls of the dough and deep fry.
Cook on low flame for the jackfruits to cook thoroughly. Traditionally we do not add any water in this dough. However if you find it difficult to make the balls, you can sprinkle a little bit of water. Also you can dip your fingers in water before making the balls so that they don’t stick to your hand.
When the fritters are brown on the outside, remove them on a tissue paper and serve hot as a snack.
You can also store these for 4-5 days in the refrigerator

Note: Since its seasonal, I have tried storing jackfruit pods (after removing the seeds) in the freezer. It stays fine for months and you can thus preserve and make this dish after the summer season too.