Kathal ki sabzi (Jackfruit in english) is a North Indian delicacy that is made from raw jackfruit. With the advent of summers, the one of the many things thing I crave for is jackfruit. I love this fruit in all its form- be it raw or ripe, both the form makes me drooling.
In north India, Jackfruit or kathal is either prepared as a dry sabzi or in the form of curry. In this post, I have shared the recipe for making the jackfruit with gravy. This involves deep frying the jackfruit pieces and then cooking the fried pieces along with the gravy. You can even include the almond-shaped seeds to this recipe. Just peel the seeds and slice it and fry it along with the jack-fruit pieces.
The peeling part of the jackfruit is a tough one and time consuming too. I remember my mom peeling it and making the sabzi the hard way. Since I am very lazy to do all the peeling and chopping, and don’t want to make my hands messy and sticky, I usually get it peeled and chopped from my local vegetable vendor 
This recipe do calls for a bit of labour and time. I usually do multitasking when making this recipe by frying the pieces on one side and preparing the gravy on the other side. In this recipe I have used the onion and tomato paste and cooked it the long way, but if you are short of time just chop the onions and tomato and puree it after it gets cooked. Trust me, this recipe tastes so wonderful and is totally worth the effort you put in.
Ingredients required for Kathal (Jackfruit) ki Sabzi Recipe:
Jackfruit (kathal) – 500 gms (cut into medium sized chunks)
Onion – 2 big
Tomatoes – 5 (medium)
Ginger – 1 1/2 ”
Garlic – 7-8 pods
Bay leaf – 1
Cinnamon stick – 1″ piece
Coriander powder – 2 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp
Kashmiri mirch powder – 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala – 1/2 tsp
Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp (chopped finely)
Oil – 3 tbsp + some extra oil for deep frying jackfruit
Water – 1 1/2 – 2 cups (Can be varied as per choice to make the gravy thick or thin)
Salt – As per taste
How to make Kathal ki Sabzi:
- Cut the jackfruit into medium size (1.5 – 2”) chunks, peel the seeds, slice them and wash them thoroughly.
- Now in a pan/kadhai, deep fry the jackfruit chunks in batches until they attain a golden colour.
- Drain the jackfruit pieces on a filter paper or a kitchen towel to remove the excess oil.
- In a separate pan, add 3 tbsp of oil.
- Add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and saute till it becomes aromatic.
- Add the onion paste and saute till the onions become slightly golden brown.
- Now add the ginger-garlic paste and saute till the raw smell of ginger and garlic fades off.
- Now move the onion-ginger-garlic mixture to a side and add the tomato puree. Cook until oil starts separating from the tomato mixture.
- Add the coriander powder, red chilli powder, kashmiri red chilli powder and turmeric powder and saute on a low flame till the spices become fragrant.
- Now add 1/2 cup of water and evenly mix the masala so as to make a smooth paste.
- Add the fried jackfruit pieces.
- Mix it evenly till all the pieces are evenly coated with the masala.
- Now add 1 1/2 cups of water and mix evenly.
- Add the roasted cumin powder, garam masala and salt and cook it covered for 8-10 minutes till the jack-fruit pieces become soft and the gravy thickens.
- Switch of the flame and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with phulkas/roti or rice and onion rings.
Wow loved the recipe. will definitely try.