This time of the year in India you get a beautiful fruit called Jackfruit. Although its supposed to have originated in the southwestern rain forests of India, today it grows in most tropical countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. It can weigh up to 30 plus kgs and grows on trees, sometimes even in bunches of threes and fours.
I have one in my kitchen today and it looks like the picture below
The outside is scaly but the inside is soft and spongy. The fruit gives off a resin like sticky substance which is difficult to get off the knife or hands, and hence its advisable to rub a little vegetable oil on your knife and hands before cutting the fruit.
This fruit is truly amazing because it can be made into a vegetable in its raw form. In fact it is often referred to poor man’s meat because of its texture. Lightly boiled and fried, it can be put into any preparation similar to that of sheep or goat’s meat. The seeds of the fruit too can be boiled de-skinned and eaten much like peanuts.
The ripe fruit looks like the picture below
Seeds of the ripe fruit
