Chakka halwa is a traditional Kerala dessert prepared by ripe jack fruit pulp. It is very tasty and delicious. The fact is that it takes hours to prepare this sweet halwa, but its incredible taste make us to forgot all the efforts that we had took to made it. Actually you all know that cutting chakka and extracting its bulbs is a very tough job. It is really time consumable work. So try when you people have enough time to spend. Once we made this we can preserve it for months in a 'bharani' or air tight containers in refrigerator. Traditionally it was made in very bulk quantity in large vassels called "valiya otturalis". Now we have different options like pressure cooker, microwaves, mixies, non-stick pans etc.which makes it much easier than in older days. Using non-stick pan makes it easy to stir To get the real consistency and taste of halwa you have to stir the mixture continuously for at least 1 hour or more. Here I'm sharing the recipe for 5 cups of chopped jack fruit bulb. Lets start...............
Ingredients
Jack fruit bulb roundly sliced - 5 cups
Jaggery - 300 - 350 gm (adjust according to the sweetness of the bulb and your taste)
Water - 2 cups
Salt - less than 1/4 tsp
Dried ginger powder - 1 tbsp
Cardamon powder - 2 tsp
Ghee - as required ( approximately 50 ml)
How to prepare
Cook sliced jack fruit bulb.
You can use either a microwave oven or pressure cooker.
In pressure cooker add 1 cup of water and wait for 2 whistle and let it cool.
or
Add 1/2 cup of water to the bulb and microwave it for 10 - 15 minutes on high power and allow to cool.
Mean while make jaggery syrup using 1 cup of water. Sieve to remove impurities.
Make a fine paste of cooked jack fruit with out lumps. (Early days people only smashed it with strong and large wooden spatulas. Grinding makes it easy to stir).
Add this paste to a wide thick bottomed vessel, non - stick utensil is preferred as it make your job easy.
Add jaggery syrup start stirring continuously. The flame should be medium or low as you stir it. Add ghee at regular intervals to prevent sticking on the sides of the vessels. As we are using non- stick utensil the quantity of ghee should be reduced than in the traditional one.
or
Microwave it again after adding the jaggery and 1 tbsp of ghee till it starts to thickens. You have to stir in between.
Then transfer it to the non-stick vessel and put it on the stove on a medium or low flame and stir well.
At this time you have to add dried ginger powder and powdered cardamom and salt to balance the taste.
You have to stir it till it becomes dry and dark brown colored.
(Getting the brown colour will depend upon the colour of jaggery we use. Use dark coloured one. This will give a very dark colour to the recipe.)
Add ghee in between stirring.
When it is done the excess ghee will ooze out.
Bring down from the fire.
Take a flat plate and spread some ghee and spoon the halwa to it.
Spread it evenly on the plate.
Level the top by hard pressing using a flat spatula (chattukam) or you can use a piece of banana leaf to level it.
You can see the ghee coming out.
If you are health conscious remove it from the plate.
When cooled cut it as you wish.
You can preserve it for months in a refrigerator.
Jack fruit bulb roundly sliced - 5 cups
Jaggery - 300 - 350 gm (adjust according to the sweetness of the bulb and your taste)
Water - 2 cups
Salt - less than 1/4 tsp
Dried ginger powder - 1 tbsp
Cardamon powder - 2 tsp
Ghee - as required ( approximately 50 ml)
How to prepare
Cook sliced jack fruit bulb.
You can use either a microwave oven or pressure cooker.
In pressure cooker add 1 cup of water and wait for 2 whistle and let it cool.
or
Add 1/2 cup of water to the bulb and microwave it for 10 - 15 minutes on high power and allow to cool.
Mean while make jaggery syrup using 1 cup of water. Sieve to remove impurities.
Make a fine paste of cooked jack fruit with out lumps. (Early days people only smashed it with strong and large wooden spatulas. Grinding makes it easy to stir).
Add this paste to a wide thick bottomed vessel, non - stick utensil is preferred as it make your job easy.
Add jaggery syrup start stirring continuously. The flame should be medium or low as you stir it. Add ghee at regular intervals to prevent sticking on the sides of the vessels. As we are using non- stick utensil the quantity of ghee should be reduced than in the traditional one.
or
Microwave it again after adding the jaggery and 1 tbsp of ghee till it starts to thickens. You have to stir in between.
Then transfer it to the non-stick vessel and put it on the stove on a medium or low flame and stir well.
At this time you have to add dried ginger powder and powdered cardamom and salt to balance the taste.
You have to stir it till it becomes dry and dark brown colored.
(Getting the brown colour will depend upon the colour of jaggery we use. Use dark coloured one. This will give a very dark colour to the recipe.)
Add ghee in between stirring.
When it is done the excess ghee will ooze out.
Bring down from the fire.
Take a flat plate and spread some ghee and spoon the halwa to it.
Spread it evenly on the plate.
Level the top by hard pressing using a flat spatula (chattukam) or you can use a piece of banana leaf to level it.
You can see the ghee coming out.
If you are health conscious remove it from the plate.
When cooled cut it as you wish.
You can preserve it for months in a refrigerator.
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