jackfruit Archives - Feast of Plants

South Indian Garlic Chilli Vegan Curry

Feast of Plants — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 12:00:49 +0000

In the last few months, Kenny has taken some time to meditate on his views and from an omnivore to a vegetarian. He was never a big meat eater so it wasn’t a huge change. But this leaves him with a slight problem, what does he eat if we go out for dinner or gets takeout? With his wheat allergy his choices are already limited but add in his new vegetarian dietary choice and getting takeout has become a little tricky. This isn’t a new problem in some respects, he hasn’t been able to get his favourite curry since he moved to London. The Glasgow food scene has a lot of it’s own dishes and he misses them alot. I’ve talked about this before (find that recipe here) but today’s recipe was a little more challenging. The Glasgow interpretation of South Indian Garlic Chilli Chicken is very different to what you might find in the rest of the UK. With a thick, tomato based sauce, tandoori cooked chicken, and plenty of green chillies. It’s not a curry that’s hot just for the sake of it, instead it builds on the flavours of the garlic and green chillies to make a dish that’s layers of flavour. I’ve used a combination of tofu and jackfruit to replace the chicken. Cooked in a style reminiscent of tandoori chicken, this adds an extra layer of flavour with the the right texture. Did you make the Brinjal Bhaji recipe I posted a few weeks ago? (If not you can find the recipe here) Because I hope you followed my suggestion of making a bulk batch of the base sauce as it’s the key to making many takeout style curries – including this one! Make sure you have a few batches in the freezer and it’s your key to so many tasty curries in the future. Enjoy and let me know how it goes for you! Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients For the Marinade: 400g Firm Tofu 400g tin Young Green Jackfruit, drained & rinsed 250g Dairy Free Yogurt 1 Tbsp Garlic Ginger Puree 3 Garlic Cloves, minced 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin 1 Tbsp Ground Coriander 1/2 Tbsp Ground White Powder 1 tsp Lemon Juice 1 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Salt 1 Tbsp Paprika 2 Green Chillies, finely chopped 1/2 tsp Brown Sugar For the Curry: 60 ml Oil 15 Garlic cloves, peeled & sliced 1 large Onion, chopped 2 Tbsp Garlic Ginger Paste 2 Green Chillies, halved & sliced* 1 tsp Chilli Powder 2 Tbsp Curry Powder 2 tbsp Tandoori Masala 80ml Tomato Puree 500ml Base Sauce, heated 125ml Vegetable Stock 1 tsp Fenugreek Leaves Salt & Pepper, to taste Fresh Coriander, to garnish Directions If you have time, it’s best to press the tofu so its less fragile and more able to absorb the marinade. Wrap the block of tofu in a clean tea towel and put it on a large plate with a lip. Put something heavy on top, and leave for 30 mins. Dice the tofu and jackfruit into large, bitesized chinks. Mix together the rest of the marinade ingredients in a nonreactive bowl (it’s a tad acidic so avoid metal if possible) before gently mixing through the tofu and jackfruit. Cover and leave to marinade for at least 20 minutes and no longer than 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (190 Fan/400 F). Place the jackfruit and tofu on a tray, coat with any excess marinade and place into the oven for 40mins. Halfway through, spritz with oil to help them brown. Put to one side once cooked. Heat the oil in a large, heavy based pan on a medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent and soft. Add the garlic and continue cooking for another 30 seconds, or until fragrant before adding the garlic ginger paste and diced chillies. Fry until the water from the paste has been cooked off. Toss in the spices and tomato puree and cook, stirring constantly until well combined and any excess fluid has cooked off. Deglaze the pan with half the base sauce before adding the tofu, jackfruit and the rest of the base sauce. Stirring occasionally, simmer until the sauce has reduced by half before add the fenugreek. Taste and add salt as needed. Serve with rice, garnished with fresh coriander leaves as needed. Notes * I’m a bit of a whimp when it comes to chilli so I tend to deseed the green chillies before using. If you’re a bit fan of heat, leave the seeds in and you can even add a third to the curry. Allergy Notes; This should be vegan, gluten free and nut free. If you want to avoid using soy then you can substitute in Burmese tofu or omit it entirely and add another tin of jackfruit. If you have any allergy issues with this recipe, let me know and I can suggest substitutions.

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Korean Inspired Jackfruit Tacos (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 12:00:45 +0000

The secret to cooking in a heatwave is to bring out the slow cooker. Since a lot of the dishes typically made in the slow cooker are thought of as cold weather food, I know a lot of you won’t think of it but it’s perfect. You won’t need to heat up the kitchen by turning on the oven and most of the work can be done early in the day when the day’s heat is at it’s lowest. It’s ideal! The inspiration for this recipe came from Korean Bolgogi Beef. Literally translated as ‘fire meat’, Bulgogi was popularised by refugees from Pyongan and is generally cooked on a BBQ. Asian Pears are a typical tenderiser and often that delightful Korean chilli paste known as gochujang is added. Now obviously I can’t easily replicate the texture of thinly sliced sirloin, but jackfruit takes flavours well and can easily replicate the texture of pulled pork which is just as lovely. Now, I’m not a person to go to the shops to make one recipe work. Instead I created something slightly different, inspired by my research into the original, but matches what I have to hand. I’ve paired the Jackfruit with a tasty mango slaw and creamy, vegan, coriander crema to cool the heat. It’s all surprisingly easy to make, and perfect for this summer heat. The smells coming from the kitchen while the jackfruit cooker were amazing and I really couldn’t recommend this enough. Don’t feel like tacos today? Then these translates equally well to a really tasty rice bowl, just pair with fluffy rice, some kimchi and maybe a tasty cucumber salad. Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients Korean Inspired Jackfruit: 500g Young Green Jackfruit (Aprox 2 tins, drained), rinsed to remove the brine if needed 1 Large Onion, roughly chopped 200g Pineapple (I used frozen that defrosted in no time in this heat), roughly chopped 6 Large Cloves of Garlic, minced 20g Ginger, cut into thin strips 250ml Mirin* 125ml Soy Sauce Substitute (See allergy note below) 125ml Maple Syrup 125ml Vegetable Stock 60ml Oil (a mild tasting oil like canola oil work well) 1 1/2 Tbsp Sriracha For the Mango Slaw: 1/2 head of Savoy Cabbage, shredded 1/4 Head of Purple Cabbage, Shredded 2 Carrots, cut into matchsticks 5 Spring Onions, Sliced 300g Mango, Chopped 1/4 cup Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped 1 Tbsp Sesame Seeds (a mix of black and white preferably) 2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil 2 Tbsp Lime Juice 3 Tbsp Rice Vinegar 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce Substitute (See allergy note below) 2 tsp Maple Syrup 2 tsp Sriracha For the Lime and Coriander Crema: 150g Cashews, soaked 125 – 160ml of Water, depending on how thick you like your crema 1 1/2 Tbsp Lime Juice 1/2 Tsp Onion Powder 1/2 Tsp Salt 1 Large Garlic Clove Directions Lets start by getting the Jackfruit going in the slow cooker. Put the pineapple, mirin, Soy sauce substitute, maple syrup, stock, and oil into a blender. Mix until mostly smooth then put into the body of your slow cooker. Add the rest of the Jackfruit ingredients and cook on low for 6 hours. When done, mash the jackfruit so that it resembles pulled pork. Simple! The Slaw is equally simple. Whisk together the liquids for the dressing in a small bowl till the oil has emulsified. Toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl, then toss through the dressing. If you’re doing this ahead of time, keep the salad and dressing separate until no more than 30 mins before serving, this will stop the salad from wilting and turning soggy. For the crema, drain the cashews and blend with half the coriander along with the rest of the ingredients. Start with the bare minimum of water and gradually increase until the crema is smooth and as thick, or thin, as you prefer. Thinly slice the remaining coriander and gently stir into your crema. Keep in the fridge till ready to eat. Optional flavour boosting step: 15-20 mins before you’re ready to eat, place your cooked jackfruit on an oven tray. I like to toss through a tablespoon of sesame seeds and a touch of toasted sesame oil. Place under a hot grill (or broiler for our american readers) and toast for 15 mins, turning halfway through, or until the Jackfruit has started to crisp and brown around the edges. Serve on corn tacos and enjoy. There you have it, a tasty dinner that’s incredibly easy to make and won’t get you hot and bothered in summer heat. Notes As mentioned above, this works equally well as a tasty rice bowl if you’re not feeling tacos today. Just serve with some fluffy rice, a tasty Asian cucumber salad and maybe some kimchi. Allergy Notes; you may be a little tired of this note by now but those of you that don’t know, I’m going to keep saying this – Soy Sauce is NOT gluten free as the brewing process contains wheat. A good gluten free option is Tamari which normally (not always! check your brand) contains no gluten, is slightly less salty, and thicker than soy sauce. We use coconut aminos in our house, while not quite as rich as soy sauce, it’s both gluten free and soy free but different brands vary tremendously – you may have to look around before finding one that suits you. This recipe is easily vegan, gluten free and soy free. If sesame seeds are an allergen for you then substitute the sesame oil for mild tasting oil like rapeseed. You can skip the sesame seeds entirely or substitute them for a mix of poppy seeds and sunflower seeds.

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Jackfruit Biryani (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:00:54 +0000

My mother makes the best biryani, hands down. I have treasured childhood memories of important events being celebrated with mum’s biryani and it was one of the first recipes I made sure to take with me when I moved out. Culturally in India this dish has always been something reserved for celebrations and special occasions because in all honesty, what crazy person wants to spend 6 hours making an ordinary dinner? Unfortunately there’s now one problem with my mother’s version – it uses lamb. With meat firmly off the table since I went vegan, I’ve spent quite sometime trying to get back to that familiar taste using vegetables. I must have made hundreds of Vegetable biryanis over the years in vain – I hated all of them. The saviour here was in the form of Jackfruit, a traditional centrepiece to biryani recipes in the south of India. My first bite and I knew I had found it – my perfect recipe, the one that tasted just like home. I should point out that this is a merge of two different traditions of biryani. Southern Indian Biryanis are the versions that tend to be vegetable or jackfruit based. With a basis in hyderabadi biryani, these recipes tend towards being more spicy. While northern biryani, is much dryer, uses less spice, and has left of a focus on vegetarian ingredients. I’ve tried to fuse both traditions into a vegan version that’s complex while not being overwhelming. This recipe is going to take a while, just like the version my mother makes. Including soaking time for the rice, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were hitting almost 6 hours but it’s completely worth it. Spend some time paying attention to the details so that it’s all worth it and use this recipe for a special occasion, or one of those days where you can enjoy playing in the kitchen for hours with music to dance to. You’ll be rewarded with an amazing smelling kitchen and a dish like no other. Enjoy! Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients For the Rice: 500ml Basmati Rice 2 ltr Vegetable Stock 2 Bay Leaves 1 tsp Black peppercorns 4 Green Cardamom 4 Cloves 1 Tbsp Salt For the Biryani: 1 Tbsp Saffron 60ml Warm Coconut milk 3 Large Onions 4 Cloves of garlic 1 Green Chilli 10g Ginger, peeled 25g Sliced Almonds* 40g Sultanas 500g Green Jackfruit**, drained and rinsed 250ml Vegan Yogurt 3 Large Tomatoes, diced 4 Bay Leaves ½ tsp Black Peppercorns 1 Black Cardamom 4 Green Cardamom 6 Cloves 1 Cinnamon Stick, about 5cm ½ tsp Fennel Seeds 1 Tsp Turmeric ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper ½ tsp Nutmeg 1 tsp Garam Masala 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil 1 Tbsp Fresh Coriander, chopped Oil for frying Directions Start with your rice so it can soak while you do the rest of your preparation. Wash your rice in plenty of water, changing the water every time it turns cloudy. Once the water is clear, leave it to soak in at least double the amount of water to rice. Preferably the rice should be left to soak for at least 3 hours but soaking for one hour should do in a pinch. (Optional; some chef recommend adding 1 Tbsp of salt to the soaking water to help ensure your grains stay fluffy and not at all sticky.) When the rice has finished soaking, rinse and drain it well. Bring the stock to a boil in a large pan with the spices and rice. Simmer for 8 minutes, or until the rice is half cooked. Drain well, cover the rice and set to one side. Set a dry pan over a low heat and gently toast the saffron threads until they smell fragrant and turn a few shades darker. Now crumble the threads into your warm milk and set to one side. Like the rice, saffron milk works so much better if you can leave it to soak for several hours. In the same dry pan, lightly toast your whole spices on a low heat. Once they have browned (not burnt!) all over and smell amazing, remove from the heat and set into a separate container to cool. Once cooled, grind your spices finely and set to one side. Cut two of the onions into half rings and set to one side. The last onion can be roughly chopped and placed into the blender with the green chilli, ginger, garlic, and half the almonds. Add about 45ml of water and blend until a smooth paste forms. Slice the jackfruit into bite sized chunks, about 1-2 cm square and put to one side. Now place a large, heavy bottomed casserole dish on a medium to high heat with about 90ml of oil. When the oil has heated, fry the onion rings until they turn brown and crisp. Remove the onions from the oil and set them to one side while they drain on kitchen paper. Add the sultanas to the same oil and remove once they turn plump. Now add the last of the sliced almonds and fry until they turn a light golden brown. Again, set these to one side to drain on kitchen paper. Now fry the chunks of jackfruit, a few at a time, until they turn golden brown. Don’t be tempted to overcrowd the pan as this will drop the temperature of your oil and will stop the jackfruit from browning, just turning oily instead. Set the jackfruit to one side. In the same pan, add another quarter cup of oil and drop the heat down to medium. Add the onion paste you made earlier to the pan and fry until it turns a deep brown. Now add the yogurt to the pan, a tablespoon at a time so as to not reduce the heat too much. Using just a touch of water, deglaze the pan, scraping up all the brown bits that have stuck to the bottom. Return the jack fruit to the pan with the chopped tomatoes, about half a cup of water, and a tsp of salt and simmer on low for about 30 minutes with a lid on. Add all the spices to the pan apart from the garam masala, mix well, and continue to cook for another 30 minutes. Now remove the lid, increase the heat to medium high and simmer until the sauce reduces by half. Turn off the heat and stir through the garam masala. Top your sauce with the rice we cooked earlier in a nice sloping pile. Drizzle the saffron milk along the sides of the pile and evenly spread out the coconut oil in a few small dollops with just half the cooked onions. Cover the pot, with foil and the lip if your lip doesn’t form a tight seal, and place into a preheated oven at 150 degrees. Bake for about 45 minutes. When you remove the dish from the oven, gently stir the rice and jackfruit together. Serve family style, garnished with the sultanas, almonds, coriander and remaining onions. Notes Take your time with this, make it meditative and time for you to enjoy. If you try to rush it then you’ll miss something or overwhelm the pan when frying off your ingredients to start off with. * If you don’t have any almonds to hand then about a quarter cup of cashews will work equally well. **I use tinned, young green Jackfruit. The weight here is the drained weight of the jackfruit once out of the tin so should be about 2 tins. Allergy Notes; If nuts are an allergen for you then use 2 Tbsp of roasted sunflower seeds in the onion mix and skip the nut topping. This recipe is vegan, gluten free and soy free – enjoy!

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Jackfruit Carnitas (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Mon, 15 Jun 2020 12:00:21 +0000

Lets do some real talk folks, I’m a white girl living in suburban London. Authentic Mexican food can be a little hard to track down round here and I’ve never been to Mexico so I’m left to look at pictures on the internet and imagine. I’m not going to be your most authentic source of Mexican food but I can tell you whats tasty and these carnitas are so tasty! Inspired by the traditional Mexican dish of pork carnitas where a shoulder of pork is slow cooked until it starts to fall apart, then grilled to crisp up the edges. Cooked with tons of aromatics, this tender and flavourful dish is eaten as a snack with salsa, used as a taco filling, or stuffed into burritos. What’s more, it’s crazy easy to veganise this by using jackfruit instead of pork. For something so tasty, this is an amazingly easy dish and I’ve included 3 different cooking methods in the recipe below so you can fit it to what works for you. Got a busy day coming up? Then your slow cooker is your friend. Realised you’ve forgotten to plan ahead for dinner? Then the pressure cooker has your back. Don’t have a slow cooker or pressure cooker but still want to enjoy this deliciousness? I’ve got your back with a method for your hob. Use this as a filling for your over stuffed burritos, serve on tacos with salsa and guacamole, I’ve even sprinkled this on pizza (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!) – this recipe is sure to become one of your firm favourites! Makes: Serves 4 Ingredients 2 tins of Young Green Jackfruit, rinsed and drained 1 Large Onion, quartered then sliced 5 Garlic Cloves, minced 2 tsp Ground Cumin ½ Tbsp Nutritional Yeast 1 Tbsp Smoked Paprika 2 tsp dried Oregano 1 tsp dried Thyme 2 Bay Leaves 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce Substitute (see allergy note below) 2 Tbsp Tomato Puree 1 Tbsp Liquid Smoke 1 Tsp Ground Coriander 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar/Maple Syrup ½ Tbsp Chilli Flakes 60ml Vegetable Stock 1 Tbsp Cider Vinegar 1 Large Orange, quartered ½ Tbsp Strong Coffee (weird I know – trust me here!) Oil for Cooking Salt & Pepper to taste Directions Instant Pot/Pressure Cooker Method; set your instant pot to saute and use the adjust button to set the heat to low. Add a touch of oil with the onion and gently saute, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens just faintly starts to brown. Turn off the instant pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Mash the oranges with the end of your spoon so they release their juices and stir really well to make sure everything is completely combined. Now lock on the lid and cook on high for 5 minutes, allowing a natural release. Remove the oranges and but leaves from the pot and set the oranges to one side. This is the point where I like to shred the jackfruit, I like a potato masher for this task but a couple of forks may do just as well if you don’t have one. Gently mash the jackfruit until it’s broken up and resembles pulled pork. Place the jackfruit on to a tray with the oranges and put under a hot grill for about 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through, or until the edges of the jackfruit are just starting to char. Slow Cooker Method; Gently saute your onions on a low heat until they begin to soften and lightly brown. Turn the heat up to medium, add the garlic and orange quarters and saute for another minute or so, stirring constantly. The garlic should become fragrant and the orange may just be beginning to catch. Tip this mix into your slow cooker along with all the other ingredients, set to low, and cook for 8 hours. Remove the oranges and bay leaves and set the oranges to one side. As above, shred the jackfruit with a masher or a pair of forks. Place the jackfruit on to a tray with the oranges and put under a hot grill for about 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through, or until the edges of the jackfruit are just starting to char. Hob Method; Set a large, wide pan on a low heat with a touch of oil. Slowly saute the onions, stirring occasionally, until they soften and just begin to brown. Add the garlic and continue to saute until the garlic is fragrant. Now add the rest of your ingredients and stir well. The liquid should just cover the jackfruit, if it doesn’t you might need to add a little more stock with this method. Bring up to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until your jackfruit is tender. Remove the lid and simmer until the liquid almost evaporates. Remove from the heat, remove the bay leaves, mash up your jackfruit and spread onto a tray. Put under a hot grill for about 10 to 15 minutes, turning halfway through, or until the edges of the jackfruit are just starting to char. Serve stuffed into a burrito, in tacos with guacamole and salsa, or anywhere else that needs it! Notes Allergy Notes; I’m going to keep saying this – Soy Sauce is NOT gluten free as the brewing process contains wheat. A good gluten free option is Tamari which normally contains little to no gluten, is slightly less salty, and thicker than soy sauce. As always, check your brand to make sure you’ve not accidentally picked up one of the few brands which uses gluten. We use coconut aminos in our house, while not quite as rich as soy sauce, it’s both gluten free and soy free but different brands vary tremendously – you may have to look around before finding one that suits you.

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