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.
2piecesgoraka (gamboge) or (replace with 1 tomato or tamarind paste 1 tspn)
3cloves of garlic chopped
1tspncrushed black pepper
1inch piececinnamon
2noscardamom
2noscloves
1tspnmustard seeds
1tspnfenugreek seeds
2-3cupsthick Coconut milk
Curry leaves
Pandan leaves(Rampe)
3tbspnCooking 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