Jack-seed paste

Have I invented a new recipe?

I posted about jackfruit (here) some days ago. At that time we didn't do anything with the seeds, except keeping them in water. The next day DH removed them from the water and wrapped them in newspaper - to let them dry up a little bit. Yesterday morning they were removed from the newspaper and put in the sun to dry more. (Sorry no photos from that process). Last night part of the seeds were boiled - like potatoes. Yummy to eat when still warm with salted butter added! :)

Here are the boiled jackseeds. Have to remove the "shell" from each of them before eating. I call it "shell", because it is a bit like the shell on shrimps.  

After the seeds were cleaned, I put them all in the food processor. I added garlic, olive oil, water (jack seeds are dryer than potatoes), sesam seeds, leek, salt, pepper and different spices. If one wants it spicier, add chillies and more salt. I didn't do that, because I find chillies too hot.

It can be eaten at dinner as well as bread-spread.

It turned out so yummy!!!

MIL told me jack curry as well as boiled jack seeds were "poor-people's-food" in the old times. Many families were fortunate having a jack tree in their garden, and often they ate jack three times per day...

There are not many vendors at the fruit- and vegetable market selling jacks nowadays. The younger generation doesn't bother about it anymore - sadly. In DH's family, there are only I and him who know how to clean jacks - and MIL - of course - and some of her siblings.  Perhaps we are fortunate having such an exotic fruit in our garden! :)

Cleaning up the garden

Such a beautiful sky this morning!

We have one jackfruit tree in our garden. The leaves are dark green and takes up a lot of light, so it was needed to cut off all the branches. We have talked about it for some weeks, but it was not before yesterday we finally did it.

The heap doesn't look that big, does it?! Man it was!!! I like to do works like shredding branches and started as early as 07:30 this morning. At noon I was almost done with the heap, but had to give up due to rain!  

Here's the shredded jack branches! OOOOH! I'm sure the flower beds will be happy when I add it all there! :) 

This is how our poor jackfruit tree looks now! It looks so ugly!!! But I know the job was needed; it will dry up faster in the flowerbed after rain and we get much more light into our kitchen. The huge branch to the left should have been cut off too, but we don't have suitable equipment for doing that. If you look carefully, you'll see there are still 4-5 jacks on the tree, most of them almost ripe. One has to be removed from the tree tomorrow, or else it starts to rot. Perhaps I'll make more jam - mixed with ripe bananas this time! :)

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!