Thursday, February 25, 2010

Jackfruit jam

Any of you who knows jackfruit? I was not familiar with it until I visited Mauritius for the very first time in 1998. The fruit is the largest tree borne fruit in the world. What is so fascinating with the fruit is that it is eaten as curry (unripe and boiled) as well as fruit (ripe) and even the seeds are eaten (boiled). The taste of ripe jack is something between ananas and banana - with other sweet tastes. Don't eat too much ripe jack; it's "heavy"! :)

Jackfruits cut in half. These are ripe jacks. The middle and right one is OK, but the left one had started to rot so we couldn't use it - except the seeds. When ripe, it also has this "sickening" kind of sweet smell; some says it smells like onions that start to rot, but actually I'm not sure how to explain that smell! :)

DH is cleaning jacks! Those of you who are familiar with the fruit, knows how much work it is to clean and how darn sticky that thing is! Before cutting, put cooking oil on the knife! The only parts that are used from ripe jack is the flesh around the seeds and the seeds.

The seeds - often boiled as beans.

 The flesh - ready to be boiled. The ripe fruit is very sweet so there is no need adding sugar while boiling it for jam. I added vanilla pod, whole, chrushed cardamom and cinnamon. Last time I made it, I mixed in some ripe bananas. I know jackfruit jelly as well as jam are made in Goa (India), perhaps other places too, but as far as MIL knows; it is not common here. She had never heard of it until I made it for the first time a couple of years ago. :)

VOILA!!! 5 small glasses jack jam!  


6 comments:

Mildekari said...

Yummi!!! Almost like I can feel the taste of it! Perhaps you should start production and export it to us Northerners!

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

well that answered the question I just left you about what did it taste like! amazing such a different kind of fruit, I have never seen anything like it.
Karen
http://karensquilting.com/blog/

zarina said...

I saw your new look (not sure how old) of the blog and I love it.

I guess all fruits can be made jam but jackfruit - well, its not my favourite.

busymum100 said...

Unripe jackfruit cooked in curry? I love!!!

Ripe jackfruit I like too, but we believe it can cause "wind" (you know, the bloated feeling, and the urge to release wind but cannot do so, and also for causing aching all over the body).

It used to be harmless to me until a couple of yrs ago - if i take too much, i'll feel miserable. Gone are the younger days...

Jackfruit jam? I've not heard nor tried before. But here in Malaysia, we do have jackfruit chips, and I love them more than corn or potato chips!!

The Heart of Paul said...

I like jackfruit!! The smell of a ripe fruit fills the whole house when you wake up in the morning! lol

And I like that cauldron pot of yours. Cast iron?

Nat Palaskas said...

Sorry I missed a few of your posts. Working in a university library is busy at this time, beginning of the new term. I know jackfruit very well. We only eat flesh and seeds. Jam sounds nice and it's such lovely colour too. We can get it here at the market I might try the jam one day. Thanks for sharing such unusual story - Hugs Nat