Chakka Varatti / Jack fruit pudding

           "Happiness is the gift of seeing the good things of life in such high relief that the rest is unimportant"
                                                                                 - Anonymous

                 Monsoon is pouring down with as much fury as is possible for a year long wait. The sky it seems can no longer keep the precious water from the starving earth and has resorted to quench its long lasting thirst. It's the touching break of a long long fast. A break that is worth celebrating.

                 For the tropical fruits, it is almost the end of the harvest and people are busy preserving the excess fruits which were plucked before the onset of rain. We too had lots n lots of jack fruits and mangoes, ripe as well as raw. When everybody was contend with eating them as such, the elders in family were busy preserving the excess fruits. They got transformed into pickles,jams,halvas,puddings,snacks and various other forms  that it can be..

                 Chakka Varatti is such a traditional north Kerala, fruit preserve made with jack fruit which is usually served chilled. It has a consistency slightly looser than that of halva and when perfectly cooked can be stored for almost a year without being spoilt. It will definitely be a winner among sweet tooths...
Coming to the recipe...

Chakka Varatti

Things you need:

1 ripe jack fruit
4 ladles of all purpose flour/ maida
3 cups of water
250g ghee
black jaggery according to taste
3 tbsp cardamom pdr
1 coconut scraped (optional)
cashew nuts (optional)

Method:

•  Collect the fruitlets of the jack fruit in a vessel and remove its seeds and seed pouches. 
• Cut them or scrape them into small pieces.Cook in a pressure cooker or lidded vessel adding 1 cup of water. Add the scraped coconut when the water is almost dried up.
• Make a thick batter with the all purpose flour and half a cup of water. Add this slowly to the cooked jack fruit and stir continuously in low flame.
• When it starts to thicken add ghee to it and cook by stirring continuously taking care that it doesn't get burned at the bottom.
• Dissolve the jaggery by heating it in half a cup of water in a vessel and pour it to the cooked jack fruit through a sieve, stirring continuously. I haven't mentioned the amount of jaggery because the sweetness preferred by different people vary.
• Cook by stirring continuously until all the gravy dries up and the mixture acquires a halwa consistency and starts to detach from the vessel. Add the cardamom powder and mix well.Remove from heat when the ghee begins to surface.
• Garnish with cashew nuts and serve cooled or chilled.