Chakkakkuru Aviyal / Jackfruit Seeds Aviyal Recipe

I love chakkakkuru! As I had posted earlier in my Jackfruit seeds in Lentils recipe, its not easy to get it here in Singapore. But the story is entirely different in Kerala. My mom usually has an entire ripe jackfruit sent to her by friends of the family and it will be waiting, ripe and fragrant in the kitchen corner, ready to be attacked. Fresh slices are eaten then and there and the leftovers stored away to make chakka varatti and kumbil appam and what not.

The seeds are, of course, collected and sun dried before it goes into dishes like aviyal and mezhukkupuratti. Chakkakkuru aviyal is my absolute favourite and this time when I went to Kottayam, amma made it for me. This is her recipe and the picture was taken in Kottayam in amma's rustic old steel bowl.

Chakkakkuru Aviyal Recipe

Serves: 4 as a side dish

What Is Needed:

20 Jackfruit seeds/Chakkakkuru

1 drumstick, cut into 3" pieces

1 cup grated coconut

8-10 small onions/shallots sliced long

2 cloves crushed garlic

3/4 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp jeera/cumin powder

To temper:

2 tbsp oil, preferably coconut oil

1/4 tsp mustard seeds

A few curry leaves

How Its Made:

1. Soak thejackfruit seeds in water for at least 2 hours and scrape the brown skin off. Chop each into four.

2. Place the jackfruit seeds, drumsticks, half the sliced shallots, turmeric powder, chilli powder and jeera powder in a pan with 1 cup water. Cook on medium heat until the drumsticks and jackfruit seeds turn soft (not mushy). This will take about 10-12 mins depending on the seeds you are using. Add water if the mixture gets too dry.

3. Once this gets cooked, add the coconut and garlic and cook on low heat for another 5 mins until well combined. Add salt. At this time, the aviyal will be quite dry.

4. Heat oil in a pan and add the ingredients for tempering. Once the mustard seeds pop, add to the aviyal, mix well and serve.

Serve with warm rice and curry of your choice. My mom's version of the aviyal is more dry and that's the way I like it. When she makes the more popular chakkakkuru maanga aviyal / jackfruit seeds and tender mango aviyal, it is more watery and the colour/flavour is significantly different.

Chakkakkuru Parippu Curry / Jackfruit Seeds in Lentils

I love chakka kuru aka jackfruit seeds. In Kottayam, where I grew up, most houses have a backyard with various trees, most popular being jackfruit, banana, mangoes and of course the staple curry leaves plant. We've always had generous neighbours who share the fruits during season time and during summer, there's always a sack of some fruit or the other from friends and family around.

My mom makes the maximum use of any vegetable or fruit. She makes kumbil / varatti with the ripe jackfruit and reserves the seeds for aviyal or mezhukkupuratti, the two most popular chakkakkuru recipes in our house.

During a recent trip to KL, I bought a box of jackfruits. It had precisely 10 pieces inside which TH and I polished off in 2 mins. I washed and kept the seeds outside and once they dried, wrapped them in a shower cap and brought them back to Singapore. I had 10 seeds which meant there wasn't enough to make aviyal or mezhukkupuratti. I browsed around and finally zeroes in on this recipe from Sunita's blog. Her last post made me sad.. So here's wishing her all the very best in life.

Jackfruit Seeds in Lentils

Serves: 2

Recipe adapted from Sunita's recipe.

What I Used:

1/2 cup split red lentils / masoor dal, washed and drained

1/2 cup toor dal, washed and drained

10 jackfruit seeds / chakkakkuru, soaked, peeled and halved

1 tomato, chopped

3 pods of garlic, chopped

1 tsp finely chopped ginger

1 tsp chilli powder

1/3 tsp turmeric powder

A pinch of hing

Oil and mustard seeds, for tempering

Salt to taste

How I Made It:

1. Place the dals and the jackfruit seeds in a pressure cooker with 5 cups water. Cook for 3 whistles and let it cool.

2. Heat oil and add the mustard seeds. Once they pop, add the ginger, garlic, hing, chilli powder and turmeric. Fry for 1 min.

3. Add the tomatoes and fry for another 2-3 mins. To this, add the cooked dal and jackfruit seeds. Mix well.

4. Add salt. Remove.

I served the dish with some warm chapatis. Sunita's version has vegetables too but I wanted to keep it simpler and give more 'importance' to the jackfruit seeds.

On a different note, thank you so much for taking part in my b'day giveaway. The winner has been announced :)