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Sri Lankan Polos Curry
Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Polos Curry (Sri Lankan Baby Jackfruit Curry)

5 from 17 votes
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.

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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Calories: 1
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

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

Equipment

  • cooker
  • clay pot

Method
 

Step 1:

  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:

  1. 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:

  1. 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
  1. 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)