The older generations have this thing to say everytime when jackfruits and mangoes are in season, “hasidu halasu tinnu, undu maavu tinnu”: eat jackfruit when you are hungry and round off your meal with mangoes.
Panasa, a name given for Jackfruit in Sanskrit, was been mentioned in the year 400 B.C. in the Jain and Buddhist literature along with other fruits Bananas, Coconuts, Palms, Tendu, Grapes and a few more Citrus fruits. All the more reasons, why you need to catch hold of a jackfruit when its in season because its purely an Indian origin fruit. From the Neolithic times, this fruit was being used even for making sweet vinegar using the ಕಿಣ್ವನ (ಹುದುಗುವಿಕೆ) (fermentation) method along with sugarcane juice, jaggery and jamoons.
During the early 14th century Babar had made a listing of the citric fruit finds of India which included the galgal, jambiri lime, amrithphal and he went on to describe Jackfruit like (I’m quoting exactly how he described it) a “sheep’s stomach filled and stuffed, made into a gipa (haggis) which is sickeningly sweet!”
But what is so different about this regular rice cake you may think. A gatti or gidde has to be made from a jackfruit, that is completely ripened to a consistency that has soft melt in mouth lumps. And more to this comes the addition of copious amounts of Jaggery and Coconut. Then the stage setter, the wrapper Saguwani ere or the Teak leaves (Tectona grandis). The extract of these leaves are said to heal wounds, contain antibacterial traits, balances Vata and Kapha. When these leaves are cooked, it imparts an aroma and a colour that is enticing as well as a means to transfer all the good dyes, alkaloids and gastro-protective properties to the steaming food that is being wrapped in the leaf.
Pelakai Gidde / Pelakai Gatti / Jackfruit Idlis Steamed in teak leaves
Ingredients
- 20 pods Ripened Jackfruit
- 1 cup Kusubalakki rice or any idli rice
- 1/4 cup Raw Rice
- 1 cup Yellow jaggery made from sugarcane
- 1 cup grated Coconut
- A pinch of salt to bring out the sweetness of jaggery
- 2 Cardamom pods
- 10 broad Teak Leaves
Instructions
- Wash and soak rice for about 4 hours.
- Wash the teak leaves and dry them with a towel.
- Pluck out the ripe pods of the Jackfruit, deseed and chop the pods into bite size pieces.
- In a mixie, add the Jackfruit pieces and grind to a fine paste. Scoop out the fruit puree and keep it aside.
- Add, the coconut, rice, and two cardamom pods into your mixie and NEVER add any water. Grind to a fine batter and mix this with the jackfruit puree. Lastly add the jaggery to the mixture. You can as well grind the jaggery along with the rice as well. Add a small pinch of salt and combine the batter well with your hands.
- Let it rest for about 10 minutes and then scoop out a portion of batter and drop it in the centre of each teak leaf. You can make as many as you like and store the batter for the evening or next morning maybe.
- Fold the leaf into a parcel so that the batter is well secured within.
- Heat a steamer with almost 2 inches depth of water, place a ring or an elevation to support a flat plate. Place the folded leaves on the plate and close the steamer. Steam for 30 minutes, as jackfruits take a longer while to cook.
- After 30 minutes, remove from the steamer. Unwrap and serve hot with melted ghee and midi upla (appe midi pickle)
