Idichakka thoran is a traditional Kerala style stir fry made with tender jackfruit as the main ingredient, cooked with a flavorful coconut, onion, cumin, chilli mixture. Simple, seasonal, popular side dish in Kerala homes. Let's see how to make idichakka thoran with step by step pictures, full video and tips on how to handle and cut the tender jackfruit easily.
When you get fresh tender jackfruit, you can enjoy the fresh produce and try this side dish.
Check out my Kootu curry recipe and Kathal Biryani recipe in this website.
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About Idichakka thoran
Tender jackfruit season is a quiet excitement in Kerala and Tamil nadu. We call this palamoose in Tamil. My mother in law used to make dry curry with it which I have already posted, do check it out. When small, firm, green jackfruits start appearing at the market or better still, in someone's backyard, we never miss to grab one. Our perippa's house have couple of trees in their backyard and if we visit them, they make sure to cut ripe ones or tender ones whichever is available at that time. Recently I learnt that I have the skill to cut open and take out the ripe jackfruit during my India visit. Not that I would do it again, but it was pretty interesting to do it, haha.
The key here is to use the right jackfruit. Idichakka is the very young, tender jackfruit, still small, with soft seeds forming inside. This is not the unripe, raw jackfruit (kachcha kathal), which is larger and more mature. This idichakka has softer texture, milder in flavour and cooks easily. Once pressure cooked, it shreds and pulls apart like soft fibre, which is exactly what you want for this thoran.
Why you will love this?
- Simple, but burst with flavour
- No masala powders, no heavy spices
- Cooking part is easy
Idichakka thoran Ingredients
Here are the simple ingredients from the pantry you need to make idichakka thoran.
- Tender jackfruit - Idichakka - Use fresh, tender jackfruit, the smaller and greener, the better. Half a jackfruit is enough for 4 servings as side dish.
- Coconut - Main ingredient, use fresh coconut.
- Pearl onions (small onions) - Add subtle flavour that goes well with cumin and coconut flavor.
- Green chilli - adds spice and flavour.
- Turmeric powder- For color, tender jackfruit tends to darken when cut, so cook with turmeric.
To temper
- Coconut oil - Signature tadka for all Kerala dishes, gives the authentic flavors.
- Mustard seeds
- Urad dal - Adds a crunch
- Curry leaves - For fragrance
See recipe card below for quantities.
How to cut Tender Jackfruit
This is the part that many people think it is difficult. But once you know how, it is not difficult. Just couple of important things to keep in mind.
- Wear gloves or generously oil your hands, knife with any cooking oil.
- I prefer to wear gloves as it is easy to handle the knife. Otherwise it becomes slippery.
- Tender jackfruit releases a sticky white sap (latex) when cut and it is very stubborn to wash off bare hands.
- Spread a newspaper or old kitchen paper on your work surface to avoid mess and make clean up easy.
- In case a lot of sap gets stuck to the knife, slightly heat it over the stove flame. Then immediately wipe off with a kitchen tissue or waste cloth. It comes off easily. But be very careful not to burn or cut your hands while doing so.
Cutting steps:
- Using oiled knife, firstly cut the stalk off. Then cut into two halves.
- Keep the cut portion down for stability and then slice off the thorny, green skin part.
- After that, slice into thick rounds.
- Slice off the thick centre part. All the other parts are edible, including the soft seeds, fibrous flesh.
- Cut each part into manageable chunks or cubes.
- Keep the cut cubes as you chop them, in water to prevent darkening.
Step by step images
Let's see how to make idichakka thoran.
- To start with, place the chopped idichakka cubes in a small pressure cooker, with water enough to immerse. Add ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder and salt to it.
- Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. I used a 1.2 L cooker. Please adjust the number of whistles according to the make, model you use.
- Drain from water to a bowl.
- Use a wooden ladle to press it and smash it.
- Take care not to mash too much.
- It should have some texture. Keep aside.
- Place coconut, pearl onion, green chillies and cumin seeds in a blender.
- Grind it coarsely without any water.
- In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Once hot, splutter mustard, followed by urad dal. Once golden and crisp, in low heat, add curry leaves.
- Add the idichakka and give it a mix.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes in medium heat or until it is dry.
- Then add the ground coconut mixture, little salt to taste and turmeric. It is optional to add turmeric and salt here.
- Stir well until dry.
- Switch off the stove once combined and dry. You can finish off with a coconut oil.
Serve idichakka thoran (unripe tender jackfruit stir fry) as accompaniment for steamed rice along with any south Indian gravy.
Substitutions & Variations
You can skip onion and make a no onion no garlic verson.
If tender jackfruit is not available, use the mature unripe jackfruit we get packaged in the Indian grocery stores.
Storage
If you have leftovers, refrigerate in an airtight container, use within a day or two. Reheat in a pan with a drizzle of coconut oil on medium heat.
You can cut jackfruit previous day and keep immersed in water, inside fridge.
Even you can refrigerate the cooked tender jackfruit the prior day.
Top Tip
- Oil everything before starting with the jackfruit. Hands, knife, cutting board. But it gets bit slippery, so be cautious white handling it.
- Newspaper prevents the work surface and makes cleanup so much easier, keeps your counter space stain free.
- Do not over grind and make a paste. Just pulse couple of times.
- Adjust green chilies according to your spice levels.
My notes
Give it a few days if you cut it off and get from a tree freshly. Because fresh tender jackfruit leaves out a lot of sap when cut. Which makes it difficult to handle, clean and becomes messy.
Even when you buy from shop, if it is too fresh, five few days in the fridge.
I use a small 1.2 litre pressure cooker for this recipe. The number of whistles needed may vary depending on your pressure cooker's make, model and size. Larger cookers build pressure differently from that of the smaller ones. Always do a quick doneness check by pressing a piece after the pressure releases. That is more reliable than counting whistles alone.
I used a ladle to mash the tender jackfruit but you can also use mortar pestle to smash.
FAQ
Idichakka thoran is a popular stir fry from Kerala cuisine, prepared with young, tender Jackfruit. Simple coconut based spice mix tossed with cooked jackfruit, coconut oil and temperings.
Idichakka is Tender Jackfruit in English.
Idichakka is more young version than the commercially available packaged kathal. You can find this fresh in season in the vegetable vendor shops.
Recipe card
Idichakka Thoran Recipe | Quick video
Ingredients
- ½ Tender jackfruit idichakka
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder Divided
- Salt
To grind coarsely
- ½ cup Grated coconut
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 5 Pearl onions
- 2 Green chillies
To temper
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon Urad dal
- 2 Dry red chillies
- 1 sprig Curry leaves
Instructions
- To start with, place the chopped idichakka cubes in a small pressure cooker, with water enough to immerse. Add turmeric and salt to it.
- Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. I used a 1.2 L cooker. Please adjust the number of whistles according to the make, model you use.
- Drain from water to a bowl.
- Use a wooden ladle to press it and smash it. Take care not to mash too much. It should have some texture. Keep aside.
- Place coconut, pearl onion, green chilli and cumin seeds in a blender.
- Grind it coarsely without any water.
- In a heavy bottomed vessel, heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Once hot, splutter mustard, followed by urad dal and dry red chilli. Once urad dal is golden and crisp, in low heat, add curry leaves.
- Add the idichakka and give it a mix.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes in medium heat or until it is dry.
- Then add the ground coconut mixture, little salt if needed and little turmeric. Stir well until dry.
- Switch off the stove once combined and dry. You can finish off with a coconut oil.
Video
Notes
- If you want you can skip the turmeric and salt added later while stir frying. I added just for coconut.
- Use a gloves while cleaning and chopping the raw jackfruit. It can stain very badly. I prefer to use gloves than oil because oil is too slippery while chopping.
- I used a ladle to mash but you can also use mortar pestle to smash.
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