Polos Curry (Sri Lankan Baby Jackfruit Curry)

Here is the Sri Lankan Polos Curry recipe which is delicious,flavourful and authentic!If you look for ways to add Sri Lanka baby jackfruit curry to your meal,then why do you wait?Head on to a nearby market or even to your home garden to pick a fresh baby jackfruit and start cooking with me! 🙂

What is Polos Curry? (Polos maluwa /Baby jackfruit curry)

Polos curry is one of the most admired foods in Sri Lankan cuisine due to its unavoidable taste.To make polos curry, a baby jackfruit is cooked with spices and coconut milk. In Sri Lanka there are few different ways for cooking Polos Curry. However most of these polos recipes are basically same although there are few differences in ingredients and cooking order.

What are the health benefits of Polos Curry (Benefits of baby jackfruit)

If you like to know health benefits of polos curry,let me share some benefits which are traditionally passed down.In Sri Lanka polos or jackfruit is known as a source for increasing breastmilk supply.This is why polos curry or baby jackfruit is added to a typical meal of Sri Lankan pregnant ladies.Moms with newborn babies love to eat this curry and they are lucky enough to receive the nutrients packed in a babyjackfruit as Sri Lanka is blessed with these trees.

However what I shared is what I learnt from traditional Sri Lankan food culture.Be sure to contact a healthcare adviser for scientific research and advice. 🙂

Baby jackfruit is a vegan favourite.It is also packed with many nutrients including vitamin A & C. Baby jackfruit is also rich in fibre.

Therefore there are many healthy reasons to add polos to your meal. 🙂

Other Names for Baby jackfruit Curry

As I mentioned at the beginning, Polos Maluwa is a Sri Lankan spicy dish popular among most of people. Polos is the common Sri Lankan name for Baby Jackfruit. Therefore this curry is also known as Green Jackfruit curry, baby jack fruit curry, Polos ambula, polos maluwa or simply as polos curry.

In Tamil,this is called as Palakkai Curry. So,if you look for Palakkai curry recipe but not Indian,then try this Sri Lankan style recipe.

Do you know any other name for this curry? If so, please share as a comment.

How to cook Polos Ambula?

This is one of our favourite curries too. Whenever we visit Sri Lanka, Polos curry is in top of our must eat Sri Lankan food list. But in Singapore, we can easily buy Polos in Little India markets.

Polos Curry tastes good when cooked with a good amount of spices together with creamy thick coconut milk.   

In Sri Lanka, this is mostly cooked in low flame for few hours & in an earthen pot. It is more delicious if it is cooked few hours before the meal. Once you cook Polos curry for few hours, the appearance will be appealing with tender soft meat like polos pieces.

Here is how to cook Polos Curry.

Recipe : Sri Lankan Polos curry  (Baby Jackfruit curry/Green Jackfruit curry)

Ingredients (1 medium sized polos is enough for about 5-6 servings)

1 no of Polos (Baby Jackfruit)

For the Spices mix:

2-3 tbspn red chili powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

2-3 tbspn  Sri Lankan Raw Curry Powder

Other ingredients:

1 medium sized onion sliced

2-3 dried red chili

2-3 Green Chili

2 pieces of goraka (gamboge) or (replace with 1 tomato or tamarind paste 1 tspn)

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 tspn crushed black pepper

1” piece cinnamon

2 cardamom

2 cloves

1 tspn mustard seeds

1 tsp fenugreek seeds

2-3 cups thick Coconut milk

salt to taste

Cooking oil

Curry leaves

Pandan leaves(Rampe)

Method

Step 1:

Dry roast the spice powders until golden brown. Keep aside. Remember not to burn.

Roast 1/2 tspn of mustard seeds. Grind it into powder and keep aside.

Step 2:

Remove the skin of Polos. Cut in to pieces/cubes.

How to cut a baby jackfruit?

It is not easy to Cut Polos.

Tip: Apply cooking oil into knife. Use a good amount of used newspapers below the cutting board.(Easy to clean after the process. When you cut baby jack fruit, use a piece of newspaper to remove the sticky milky sap. You can also use your hand to remove milky sap. But, apply some cooking oil before you do this.

When you cut polos in to pieces, directly add those to a bowl of water to avoid discolouring.

Once cutting process is completed, wash all polos pieces and drain water.

Mix roasted spices with polos pieces & keep aside.

Step 3:

Heat 2-3 tblspn of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds once oil is hot. When mustard seeds are popping up, add onion, dried chili, Green chili, garlic, Curry leaves, Pandan leaves (Rampe) into the mix. Also add cinnamon, cardamom & cloves.

When onions are tender, add the Polos pieces into the pan & mix well.Add crushed black pepper too.

Add thick coconut milk into the mix together with another 1 cup of water.

Add goraka or tamarind juice. Add about 1 tspn salt. Mix well.

Step 4:

Cook polos curry until al pieces are soft and well cooked. Usually it will take at least 30 minutes to cook Polos. Once it is cooked /boiled, simmer the polos curry in low flame for another 30 minutes until the gravy become thick and creamy. When it is done, polos pieces will turn into reddish brown colour.

The more you simmer this curry the more it tastes.

Once the curry is ready, sprinkle the powdered mustard seeds that we kept aside at Step 1.

Serve with plain rice or string hoppers.

Important Tips on cooking Polos / Baby Jackfruit Curry:

For an appealing dish, Use a clay pot to cook polos curry.

Adjust spices and salt according to your taste.

You can use tamarind juice if you cannot find Gamboge/(goraka)

Once cooked, It is better to keep this curry to rest at least 2-3 hours before serving.

You can use canned jackfruit. However taste will not be same as using fresh baby jackfruit.

You can also boil polos first before making the curry. If you boil polos first, don’t discard the water that is used to boil polos. Use it with coconut milk when you cook the curry.

Once the initial steps are done, you can use slow cooker to cook polos in low flame for few hours.(above step 4)

Other Polos recipes

 polos achcharu (polos pickle recipe) : Recipe here

Polos with grated coconut: Recipe here

Polos Curry (Sri Lankan Baby Jackfruit Curry)

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Polos curry is one of the most admired foods in Sri Lankan cuisine due
to its unavoidable taste.To make polos curry, a baby jackfruit is cooked
with spices and coconut milk.

5 from 17 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Sri Lankan

Servings 6

Calories 1 kcal

Equipment

• cooker
• clay pot

Ingredients

  

• 1 Nos Baby Jackfruit (Polos)

For the Spices mix:

• 3 tbsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
• 3 tbsp Sri Lankan Raw curry powder

Other Ingredients

• 1 nos medium sized onion sliced
  
  
• 3 nos dried red chili
  
  
• 3 nos Green Chili
  
  
• 2 pieces goraka (gamboge) or (replace with 1 tomato or
  tamarind paste 1 tspn)
  
  
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped
  
  
• 1 tspn crushed black pepper
  
  
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
  
  
• 2 nos cardamom
  
  
• 2 nos cloves
  
  
• 1 tspn mustard seeds
  
  
• 1 tspn fenugreek seeds
  
  
• 2-3 cups thick Coconut milk
  
  
• Curry leaves
  
  
• Pandan leaves(Rampe)
  
  
• 3 tbspn Cooking oil
  
  
• Salt to taste
  
  

Instructions

 

Step 1:

• Dry roast the spice powders until golden brown. Keep aside. Remember
  not to burn.

  Roast 1/2 tspn of mustard seeds. Grind it into powder and
  keep aside.

Step 2:

• Remove the skin of Polos. Cut in to pieces/cubes.

  However it is not easy to Cut Polos.

  Tip: Apply cooking oil into knife. Use a good amount of used newspapers
  below the cutting board.(Easy to clean after the process. When you cut
  baby jack fruit, use a piece of newspaper to remove the sticky milky
  sap. You can also use your hand to remove milky sap. But, apply some
  cooking oil before you do this.
  When you cut polos in to pieces, directly add those to a
  bowl of water to avoid discolouring.

  Once cutting process is completed, wash all polos pieces and
  drain water.

  Mix roasted spices with polos pieces & keep aside.

Step 3:

• Heat 2-3 tblspn of oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds once oil is hot. When
  mustard seeds are popping up, add onion, dried chili, Green chili,
  garlic, Curry leaves, Pandan leaves (Rampe) into the mix. Also add
  cinnamon, cardamom & cloves.
  When onions are tender, add the Polos pieces into the pan & mix well.Add crushed black pepper too.

  Add thick coconut milk into the mix together with another 1
  cup of water.

  Add goraka or tamarind juice. Add about 1 tspn salt. Mix
  well.

Step 4

• Cook polos curry until al pieces are soft and well cooked. Usually
  it will take at least 30 minutes to cook Polos. Once it is cooked /boiled,
  simmer the polos curry in low flame for another 30 minutes until the gravy
  become thick and creamy. When it is done, polos pieces will turn into reddish
  brown colour.
  The more you simmer this curry the more it tastes.

  Once the curry is ready, sprinkle the powdered mustard seeds that we kept aside at Step 1.

  Serve with plain rice or string hoppers.

Notes

For an appealing dish, Use a clay pot to cook polos curry.

Adjust spices and salt according to your taste.

You can use tamarind juice if you cannot find Gamboge/(goraka)

Once cooked, It is better to keep this curry to rest at least 2-3 hours before serving.

You can use canned jackfruit. However taste will not be same as using fresh baby jackfruit.

You can also boil polos first before making the curry. If you boil polos first, don’t discard the water that is used to boil polos. Use it with coconut milk when you cook the curry.

Once the initial steps are done, you can use slow cooker to cook polos in low flame for few hours.(above step 4)

Keyword Baby Jackfruit, Polos Curry, Sri Lankan Recipes