Homemade Jackfruit Halwa

The other day, we bought a ripe medium sized jackfruit. We being great lovers of jackfruit dishes narrowed our choice to Jack fruit Halwa or the famed Chakkavaratti ( Ponsa Halwo in Konkani Cuisine ) after pondering over various options.

Only care needs to be taken while cutting the jack fruit is the management of sap which comes out when it is cut. It can be really messy and sticky. Applying any edible oil on ones palms and knife before cutting the fruit will minimize this. Also, finish the cutting and cleaning process in one go. I found Pril liquid good for cleaning the knife.

The jackfruit was cut, the ripe bulbs were plucked cleaned and deseeded. The flesh of these bulbs were then diced to 1 inch squares.

We then ventured into the project to prepare jackfruit halwa which needs a lots of patience and time. But the end product is so wonderful and divinely tasty to justify the time and effort.

Preparation of Jaggery: The jaggery which is available in shops contains lots of impurities and sand. What I normally do is slice the jaggery lumps, melt in little warm water and then sieve it thru very fine iron sieve. Then the solution is heated to thick consistency to get rid of the water. Store it in airtight container after it cools to room temperature.

Jackfruit Halwa

Preparation Time - 1 hour
Cooking Time - 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

50 jackfruit bulbs ( ripe )
250 to 350 g ( or to taste ) melted and sieved jaggery
3 tablespoon ghee ( for halwa )
1 tablespoon extra ghee ( for greasing )

Optional:

Cardamon powder 1/4 teaspoon
Shallow fried cashew nut splits - 1 - 2 tablespoon

Method

Deseed jackfruit bulbs and cut into 1- inch square pieces. Make a smooth paste in a mixer. Do not add water.

In a wide heavy bottomed iron kadai, heat 1/2 portion of ghee. Add jackfruit paste, mix well and cook on a low heat for 15 - 20 minutes. Stir continuously.

Add jaggery. Mix well and stir on a low heat for 1 hour till the jackfruit - jaggery mixture thickens. Keep adding the remaining ghee in small quantities - as and when the mix shows tendency to stick to the vessel. Most important during this period is the constant heat and at the same time constant stirring. Never stop stirring / leave the kadai during this time. Meanwhile apply ghee on a steel thali ( or any other stainless steel container)and keep it ready.

Once the mix is thick and ghee start coming out of it, stop the heat and spread the halwa on the greased thali and keep aside for cooling. Those who prefer to use cardamon powder can sprinkle it on top and stick cashew spits on top.

Cut the halwa to desired shape and size only after it fully cools to normal temperature (preferably after refrigeration).