(Newspaper ink is harmful if food is placed directly on it. The above picture is only to invoke memories of food sold in packets made from newspaper and hence is for the purpose of representation only)
The first two months of this year have swiftly flown by and we are already in March now. Soon the summer season will be in full bloom bringing with it all the goodies like mangoes, jackfruits, jamoons among many that I have conveniently forgotten right now. Ha ha! Breadfruit, a close cousin of the jackfruit used to be available mostly during the summer and then the availability used to taper off into the early months of the monsoons. However, since in today’s times seasonal fruits are available even when not in season thanks to crazy climatic conditions or their availability in other countries. We found a handsome breadfruit almost free of any blemishes in Lulu supermarket a couple of weeks ago. Whenever we find breadfruits here (or even when we were in Mumbai) we grab them with both hands and tom tom the news to everyone we know.
(Newspaper ink is harmful if food is placed directly on it. The above picture is only to invoke memories of food sold in packets made from newspaper and hence is for the purpose of representation only)
I am sure those of you who love breadfruit will relate to me that the feeling of having a breadfruit for lunch – fried or curried or as an evening tea time snack in its deep fried form is simply marvellous. When we bought the breadfruit we initially planned to cut it up, smear it with some chilli-salt paste (meet mirsaang) and shallow fry the slices. We would then eat them as a side to simple rice and saar or maybe a fish curry. The combination is always fantastic, no matter what you eat breadfruit with.
(Newspaper ink is harmful if food is placed directly on it. The above picture is only to invoke memories of food sold in packets made from newspaper and hence is for the purpose of representation only)
In Mangalore, not many people have the breadfruit tree in their yards anymore. Those who do, lament that the crop is negligible. Some generous ones share their bounty with their neighbours. We were fortunate to be bestowed with such kindness by our neighbour when I was in Mangalore.
Mr. Bhat, our neighbour had 3 trees that were modestly laden with the golden fruit. He distributed some fruit with his closest neighbours every season when most of the masses paid through their noses for them. My mum would then cut up the breadfuit to make a curry or a sukka of it. She fried them very rarely for two main reasons. One, fried foods didnt make their appearance on the dining table often due to health reasons. Two, there was always war declared between us siblings as to who would get the bigger share of the fried pieces. So i guess, mum pretty much got fed up of settling the battles and cited reason No.#1 to over rule any other reason.
(Newspaper ink is harmful if food is placed directly on it. The above picture is only to invoke memories of food sold in packets made from newspaper and hence is for the purpose of representation only)
For those of you who have never eaten the breadfruit, well, I am not sure how I can describe its taste. It has this mealy taste similar to the potato but different in many ways. The texture doesn’t mush up when fried but does turn mushy if overcooked in a curry. Breadfruit tastes fabulous when deep fried with a batter made of chickpea/gram flour. This is one of the many popular tea time snacks available in small hotels dotted across the coast of South Kanara district. In Mangalore, ‘podi’ is the local term that means ‘fritters or bhajiyas’. You will find many small joints selling fresh and piping hot podi in the by lanes of Car Street where people throng to buy their favourite type of podi. What’s your favourite?
(Newspaper ink is harmful if food is placed directly on it. The above picture is only to invoke memories of food sold in packets made from newspaper and hence is for the purpose of representation only)
Did you try the curried version of breadfruit? Click here for the recipe of Breadfruit & Dal Curry
Do check out the video of how to make this dish! I hope you enjoy it!
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Jeegujje Podi / Devichya Gujyache Podi (Breadfruit Fritters)
Prep time: 15-20 mins | Frying time: 3 mins per batch (approx 15 mins for mentioned quantity)
Ingredients:
- 1/4 – 1/2 of a big breadfruit * see note#1
- oil for deep frying
For the batter/coating:
- 1 cup gram flour/ chick pea flour/besan
- 1 tablespoon rice flour
- 3/4th-1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 pinch asafoetida/hing
- 1/8th teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)
- 1/8th teaspoon cumin
- 1 pinch turmeric powder
- 1/8th teaspoon (approx 1 pinch) baking soda / eating soda/ soda bi-carb * see note#2
- Water as required (approx 3/4th cup)
- Salt to taste (approx 1 tsp)
Method:
1. Vertically slice the breadfruit in half. Smear a sharp knife (only the blade) with a little oil and remove the skin. Then vertically cut the two slices again – so you have 4 parts in all. Carefully remove the center portion (the pith) of the breadfruit & discard. Now cut the breadfruit into thin slices. Keep aside.
2. Prepare the batter by placing all the ingredients in a wide and shallow bowl. Add water little by little (not all at once), stop, mix/whisk and proceed – do this till you get a smooth, lump free and runny batter. See note#2
3. Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok/kadhai and test the readiness of the oil by dropping a small drop of batter into it. The droplet should come up within 3-4 seconds forming bubbles around it. See note#3
4. Dip about 7-8 slices of breadfruit (or as many as your frying pan can accommodate without overcrowding) into the bowl of batter and coat all of the slices till they are well coated. Do this in advance so that you don’t waste time coating the slices one by one and then dropping them into the oil to fry. To ensure evenly fried pieces, keep 7-8 slices coated and ready to go.
5. Gently slip the batter coated slices into the hot oil one by one in such a way that slices dropped in immediate succession don’t touch each other – this will prevent them from sticking to each other. So drop one slice and then the next one a little far from it. Leave the slices undisturbed for approx 40-50 seconds before gently flipping them over to fry on the other side. The fritters should be slightly puffy and golden in colour. * see notes
6. Carefully remove the fritters with a slotted spoon to drain off excess oil and place on an absorbent kitchen tissue. Repeat process until all the slices are fried.
7. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup as an evening tea time snack.Notes:
1. I missed to weigh the breadfruit but used up approximately 1/4 – 1/2 of it to prepare fritters. The whole breadfruit may have been close to 900grams – 1kg. I suggest you cut and peel half of the breadfruit and prepare fritters. You can always top up with more batter and fry more podis if you like later. The unused breadfruit can be used to prepare a curry or shallow fried with red chilli paste & salt.
3. To test the consistency, just drop the batter from height into the bowl – it should be a thin paste like stream and form droplets while falling. If it is too runny it won’t coat the slices properly. Too thick and the coating won’t cook while frying.
4. It is important that the oil is maintained on a medium-high temperature. If it is too hot (high) then the fritters will brown too soon on the outside and remain uncooked inside. Reduce the heat and wait for the oil to cool till just right. If the oil is not hot enough the fritters will absorb too much oil and remain flat (un-crisp) even after frying for a long time.
5. When the fritters are frying do not pour extra oil over them with a ladle like you would do while frying pooris. This is a trick normally used to aid puffing up of the pooris but the fritters may flatten if you do this, so just leave them alone and let them puff up on their own.
6. The addition of baking soda is optional but helps the fritters to puff up and the covering doesn’t stick to the breadfruit but forms a cavity (as seen in picture#4 above).
1. Vertically slice the breadfruit in half. Smear a sharp knife (only the blade) with a little oil and remove the skin. Then vertically cut the two slices again – so you have 4 parts in all. Carefully remove the center portion (the pith) of the breadfruit & discard. Now cut the breadfruit into thin slices. Keep aside.
2. Prepare the batter by placing all the ingredients in a wide and shallow bowl. Add water little by little (not all at once), stop, mix/whisk and proceed – do this till you get a smooth, lump free and runny batter. See note#2
3. Heat the oil for deep frying in a wok/kadhai and test the readiness of the oil by dropping a small drop of batter into it. The droplet should come up within 3-4 seconds forming bubbles around it. See note#3
4. Dip about 7-8 slices of breadfruit (or as many as your frying pan can accommodate without overcrowding) into the bowl of batter and coat all of the slices till they are well coated. Do this in advance so that you don’t waste time coating the slices one by one and then dropping them into the oil to fry. To ensure evenly fried pieces, keep 7-8 slices coated and ready to go.
5. Gently slip the batter coated slices into the hot oil one by one in such a way that slices dropped in immediate succession don’t touch each other – this will prevent them from sticking to each other. So drop one slice and then the next one a little far from it. Leave the slices undisturbed for approx 40-50 seconds before gently flipping them over to fry on the other side. The fritters should be slightly puffy and golden in colour. * see notes
6. Carefully remove the fritters with a slotted spoon to drain off excess oil and place on an absorbent kitchen tissue. Repeat process until all the slices are fried.
7. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup as an evening tea time snack.Notes:
1. I missed to weigh the breadfruit but used up approximately 1/4 – 1/2 of it to prepare fritters. The whole breadfruit may have been close to 900grams – 1kg. I suggest you cut and peel half of the breadfruit and prepare fritters. You can always top up with more batter and fry more podis if you like later. The unused breadfruit can be used to prepare a curry or shallow fried with red chilli paste & salt.
3. To test the consistency, just drop the batter from height into the bowl – it should be a thin paste like stream and form droplets while falling. If it is too runny it won’t coat the slices properly. Too thick and the coating won’t cook while frying.
4. It is important that the oil is maintained on a medium-high temperature. If it is too hot (high) then the fritters will brown too soon on the outside and remain uncooked inside. Reduce the heat and wait for the oil to cool till just right. If the oil is not hot enough the fritters will absorb too much oil and remain flat (un-crisp) even after frying for a long time.
5. When the fritters are frying do not pour extra oil over them with a ladle like you would do while frying pooris. This is a trick normally used to aid puffing up of the pooris but the fritters may flatten if you do this, so just leave them alone and let them puff up on their own.
6. The addition of baking soda is optional but helps the fritters to puff up and the covering doesn’t stick to the breadfruit but forms a cavity (as seen in picture#4 above).
wow.. I loved the recipe. I am a Mangalorean, so I vividly remember the fruit name as 'Gujjo'. Not only is your recipe indigenous, but the presentation as well ;-). I just hope that the Kannada newspaper too plays along the way to add some more blissful moments by delivering great news. oh well, that would be too much to expect…(like).. has that ever happened? But hey.. nothing can beat these fritters and your hot cuppa Kaphi. 😀 Thanks for the recipe.
I like the way you present them:) very creative 🙂
Bread fruit s my fav.too.. but i donno any other recipe except thoran(stirfry).. whenever i buy one, i ask friends abt some other recipe,bt no one have any idea abt that..thnk u fr ths one..ll try soon fr sure. I've chk ur curry recipe also…
@ Mab Tauro: Thanks a ton! Haha! No, it has never happened that the newspaper has brought some blissful moments, but yes, the nostalgia was something else when I did the photo shoot 🙂
@Joylyn: Thanks so much 🙂
@ Hasna: I am glad you will now be able to try something different with the breadfruit. Do try the curry too, I have given the link at the bottom of my post (below the last picture)
Nice clicks. Yum fritters
good one shireen ! loved the pics.sending across warm wishes 🙂
Never heard about bread fruit. Had to google to check out. This recipe sounds interesting.