Echorer Dalna With Prawns – Raw Jackfruit Curry
Jackfruit can be called a vegetable. when raw, and fruit when ripe. A single plant product is considered both a vegetable and a fruit. Raw Jackfruit hardly reaches our kitchen nowadays because we have forgotten the nutritional value of this poor thing! Here I present my mother’s recipe, which is an obvious main course item in our home whenever raw jackfruit is available. And believe me, it is super tasty. Echorer Dalna with prawns is a recipe straight from my mother’s kitchen.
The trick is cutting the raw jackfruit. for this curry, we do not want the pieces to be too mushy. so we keep them big as shown in the image. The pokey skin is removed and cut.
We do not remove the seeds. This is because the jackfruit is not ripe and the seeds have not grown to be too hard. Young jackfruit seeds are easy to cut and that enhances the flavours of the curry.
Before we add it to the curry, we cook it with salt and turmeric powder separately. You are not supposed to cook till fully cooked.
One can prepare the jackfruit the day before, but we need to cook and refrigerate or else they have a tendency to become dark.
Vegetarian Variation
For a vegetarian variation, you can skip the prawn. The curry will be equally tasty and lip-smacking!
Try out my mother’s recipe and let me know how it came out!!
Echorer Curry – Raw Jackfruit Curry Bengali Style
Ingredients
- 500 g Echor(Raw Jackfruit)
- 250 g Prawns medium sized
- 2 medium Potato cut into 2cm cubes
- 2 big Onion finely chopped
- 10-12 cloves Garlic crushed
- 1½ inch Ginger crushed
- 2 medium Tomato cut into small cubes
- 4-5 Green Chilly slitted
- ½ – 1 tsp Sugar optional; to balance the taste
- Salt to taste
- 2 tbsp Oil
Powder Masalas
- 1½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1½ tsp Red Chilly Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin Powder
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Powder
Whole Spices
- 2 inch Cinnamon Piece broken
- 3 Cloves
- 2 Cardamom
- 2 Bay Leaves cut into half
Instructions
Getting the Raw Jackfruit ready for the curry
- Remove the outer pokey skin.
- After applying oil to your palms, start cutting the jackfruit.
- You need to cut the jackfruit into small pieces, say 3cm. You need to soak them directly after cutting for at least 10 minutes. Then wash properly.
- In a pan, add some water, salt and a little turmeric powder and add the pieces to be cooked. Once the water starts boiling, cover and cook over medium-low heat till done.
Preparing the Prawns
- Remove head and deshell the prawns. Give it a good rinse.
- Devein them. This is necessary since, if not deveined. it may affect the digestion process. After deveining, rinse them clean.
- Next, we need to cook the prawns. For this take another pan with prawns and water just about to cover it. Add in salt and a pinch of turmeric. Also, add in ½ tomato, sliced. Cook covered, till fully done. Dry out the extra water, if any.
Preparing the curry
- In a kadai, pour in 1 tsp oil. Add the boiled prawns ad sauté for a minute and remove.
- In the same kadai, add the remaining oil and add in the whole spices. Let them splutter.
- Add in the chopped onion and sauté till it starts changing colour. Once it becomes translucent, add in ginger-garlic crushed. Sauté till the raw smell vanishes.
- Next, add in the green chilly. Sauté for a minute.
- Now is the time to add in the masala powders, except Garam Masala. Mix well. Add one teaspoon of water to avoid the masala powders from getting burnt.
- Add in potato pieces and sauté for about 2-3 mins. Then cover and cook till the potatoes are soft.
- This is the time to add in the already cooked jackfruit pieces. Give a nice mix and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now is the time to add in the tomatoes. Mix well. Add salt to taste and sugar(optional).
- Sauté very nicely till oil starts to ooze out.
- This is the time to add in the prawns and ¼ cup of very hot water. Let everything come together and cook covered till everything is fully cooked.
- Finish it by sprinkling garam masala and giving a mix. You can add a teaspoon of ghee on the top too for extra flavours, though this is completely optional.
- Let the curry rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Goes best with Rice and chapatis.
Lovely