Young green Jackfruit makes a great shredded meat sub. Easy, Vegan, Soy-free Gluten-free Grain-free Indian curry. Simple spices, amazing flavor.
On a Jackfruit roll with this easy Jackfruit Curry. Simple, well spiced and delicious!
Young Green Jackfruit is available in canned form in brine in Asian stores and some larger Indian stores. It is also available online on amazon or Indian stores. Jackfruit is called “Kathal” in Hindi which might be the name used in Indian stores. You might also be able to find the whole Green Jackfruit in the grocery section in asian stores or Indian stores depending on the store and season. Call and check before heading to the store as it is much cheaper in the stores than online.
Jackfruit has been used for ages in some cuisines. It is the largest tree borne fruit in the world and is rich in Vitamin C, B6 and potassium. It has a meaty interior with a mild flavor. The seeds of the fruit are edible too.
This Jackfruit curry uses a few spices. Use any that you have and add some garam masala. Cook longer to infuse the Jackfruit with flavor. Serve with rice, quinoa, couscous, flatbread or cooked grains of choice.
More easy curries and Jackfruit recipes from the blog
- Jackfruit Meatballs Tacos
- Cauliflower Kofta Curry -Baked Cauliflower Veggie Balls in sauce
- Tofu in Spinach curry – Palak tofu
- No Chicken Dhaba Chikn curry.
Whats your favorite way to serve Jackfruit?
For variation: You can also make this curry with cooked beans or chickpeas, or use shredded squash or vegan chikn subs.
Easy Jackfruit Curry
Ingredients
- 1 tsp oil
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) nigella seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1 small onion chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) turmeric
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) black pepper
- 2 medium tomatoes pureed or 1.5 cups puree
- 20 oz (566 g) can green Jackfruit, drained, rinsed and squeezed to remove excess brine. Also chop into smaller pieces if too big. (see the first part of the post for availability details)
- 1/2 to 3/4 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 to 1.5 cups (235 to 353 ml) water
Instructions
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add cumin, mustard and nigella seeds and let them start to sizzle or pop. 1 minute. Add bay leaves and red chilies and cook for a few seconds. Add in the onion, garlic and ginger and a pinch of salt. Cook until translucent. 5 to 6 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- Add coriander, turmeric, black pepper and mix well. Add pureed tomato, salt and Jackfruit. Mix. Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Uncover and cook for a few minutes to thicken the tomato puree. Also, shred the Jackfruit a bit if you like.
- Add water, cover and cook for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and spice. Reduce heat to medium low and cover and cook for another 10 minutes or longer until desired consistency. Garnish with cilantro and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Andrea says
August 10, 2015 at 2:30 pmI LOVE jackfruit! A local cafe has a jackfruit po’boy that’s amazing, and it inspired me to make my own bbq jackfruit with homemade picked onions…. Now I have to go to the special grocery by the Chinese Cultural Center to re-stock my supply!
Samantha @ The Planted Vegan says
August 10, 2015 at 8:21 pmLooks so delicious! I’ve never tried jackfruit before…what kind of food flavor would you compare it to?
Richa says
August 11, 2015 at 11:54 amits like a mild flavored hearts of palm or a sweeter milder artichoke. it picks up the flavors it is cooked in really well.
Brigitte says
November 16, 2019 at 4:47 pmIn your recipe it says 365 calories per serving. How many grams is a serving?
Richa says
November 16, 2019 at 8:30 pmits 2 servings, so half the recipe
amarjit says
January 21, 2018 at 2:21 pmits like lamb but better. i am a vegan i love jack fruit curry
christophe says
August 11, 2015 at 12:14 amHi,
Can you use Jackfruit in syrup or brine? I can only buy the one in syrup, but for some recipes this one is too sweet.
thx
Richa says
August 11, 2015 at 10:40 amthat is ripe jackfruit and too sweet for savory dished. ripe jackfruit or seeds in syrup are generally used in desserts. you need the young jackfruit in brine or the whole green fruit.
Karyn Barlow says
April 10, 2016 at 10:55 pmThe onei in syrup is the riper, softer, sweeter jackfruit, which is eaten as a fruit, eg in a fruit platter. You need the young, harder green jackfruit for cooking savoury dishes. It is completely different in both taste & texture. Look for it in the canned vegetable section of an Asian grocery store. If it’s not there, perhaps you could request that the store gets some in.
Sophie wilde says
November 23, 2019 at 12:29 pmI know you wrote this 4 yes ago but if it helps you can buy canner jackfruit in brine ( salted water) from Amazon UK ,if you don’t live here I am sure it is available from Amazon wherever you live.Asian and world food stores are a brilliant way of stocking up on more unusual vegetarian items like this .
Sophie wilde says
November 23, 2019 at 12:31 pmPS please excuse any typos ,in process of getting in new glasses and typing virtually blind !😊
Caitlin says
August 11, 2015 at 7:41 amthis is exactly the recipe i have been waiting for. i need to make this asap. do you know if jackfruit is available at whole foods?
Richa says
August 11, 2015 at 10:35 amhavent seen it at whole foods yet. upton’s naturals has seasoned jackfruit now which is available at whole foods and co-ops.
Melissa says
January 31, 2018 at 11:14 pmI just bought a thick, fresh slice of jackfruit yesterday at Whole Foods! (Phoenix)
Robin Nielsen says
July 16, 2019 at 10:26 amyou can get green jackfruit in brine at trader joes
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
August 12, 2015 at 12:12 amI have never tried a jackfruit before nor cooked with one. I definitely need to keep my eyes peeled for them.. thanks for the recipe!
Christine (The Raw Project) says
August 12, 2015 at 7:13 amThis looks wonderful! I’ve never worked with canned jackfruit, but need to track it down. Thanks!
Susannah (Lemon and Coconut) says
August 12, 2015 at 11:49 amI’m going to try this with squash, I’m so glad you listed that as an alternative as I can’t eat tomatoes and have been using squash as a replacement in other dishes, I think it works well too! Thanks for another beautiful recipe. I’m pretty new to cooking with jackfruit and needed the guidance 🙂
Monica says
August 14, 2015 at 7:50 pmCan I say amazing? I just tried Indian food for the first time last night. I will definitely be diving into recipe books to learn how to use those spice combinations. YUMMY! And I’ve heard a ton of vegans using Jackfruit lately. It must be trending or something but I’m dying to try it!!! Lovely pictures & I pinned this for future reference!! 🙂
Richa says
August 14, 2015 at 8:01 pmAwesome! you should definitely get my cookbook then 🙂 http://www.amazon.com/Vegan-Richas-Indian-Kitchen-Traditional/dp/1941252095/
Jen says
August 22, 2015 at 12:37 amHello! Great looking recipe 🙂 Do you know if this could be made in a slow cooker at all?
Many thanks!
Richa says
August 22, 2015 at 11:00 amYou can probably make it in one, but I don’t know much about slow cookers, times and such.
AnnieG says
November 15, 2015 at 2:50 pmIf I wanted to add more veggies, what would you suggest? Thanks.
Richa says
November 15, 2015 at 3:09 pmanything will work. Add cauliflower, broccoli, peas, potatoes.
Lynda Carter says
July 24, 2016 at 3:12 pmI stir fried onion celery & red pepper; these vegetables heightened the flavor of the Jackfruit
Deliah says
March 2, 2016 at 12:14 pmPurchased fresh jackfruit at the farmers market. Going to prepare it for the first time ever. I like your curry recipe so I’ll use it. Do you have any pointers on how to prepare and cook the fresh jackfruit?
Richa says
March 2, 2016 at 3:54 pmjackfruit can get pretty slimy, so use oiled hands and knife or wear gloves. You can chop it into half and then slice and peel the skin. Remove the hard center part if it feels too hard. something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsafP-TDi_k . In the video the person removes the center first. Then he probably will slice it and remove the peel of each of the slice and use the rest of the meaty part which also includes a few seeds.
Pasha says
March 10, 2016 at 8:23 amThis was the recipe that got me introduced me to Indian cooking. I bought your book and have been hooked ever since!
I’m going to make this again tonight. The first time I made it I didn’t drain the Jackfruit. Is that okay, or do you not recommend doing that?
Richa says
March 10, 2016 at 10:15 amoh, yes you do drain that, as the brine can be very salty. its like canned chickpeas. you want to drain the liquid and use chickpeas.
Camill says
March 14, 2016 at 4:40 pmFinally got round to making this and it was wonderful. But what’s the other dish in the picture, and is there a recipe?
Richa says
March 14, 2016 at 5:49 pmawesome! its quinoa pilaf. not on the blog yet. will post it some time in the future and link it then.
Charlotte says
June 1, 2016 at 6:42 pmI made this tonight and it was amazing! My first time to use jackfruit and I was a little intimidated by it… but your recipe was super easy and I made mine in my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Holy moly! Don’t know what I did without my IP. Thank you for a great recipe and also pressure cooker instructions. I’ll be sharing this on the IP FB pages I am a member of 🙂 The only edit I made was to add 1/2 cup red lentils along with the jackfruit.
Richa says
June 1, 2016 at 10:59 pmThats awesome!
Sue says
January 15, 2017 at 3:44 amThis was so delicious but having thought my local supermarket in UK did Jackfruit in the world food section, get down there to find its Breadfruit instead. However on the back of the can is a recipe for a savoury stew, so figure I’ll give breadfruit a go instead. Only needs the 2 x 15 mins cooking but otherwise all the same. Looks like chunks of potato and takes up the flavours well, just don’t over cook or would mash just like potatoes.
Later that day I went to the Chinese supermarket for tempeh and realised they do jackfruit in that canned fruit section with the lychees etc. Not a section I usually look at so will try some from there next time.
Richa says
January 15, 2017 at 10:27 amThats awesome! Yes breadfruit is somewhat similar. Hard to find it in the US. Jackfruit is getting better availability with the demand
Meghan Janssen says
April 26, 2017 at 8:09 amTrader Joe’s just started stocking canned jackfruit. Excited to try it out with this recipe!
Ann vanvleck says
April 28, 2017 at 11:58 pmLooks wonderful and I’m making it tomorrow with canned jack fruit I buy on line from Amazon. Looks like lots of work for fresh jack fruit
Charles Olivier Wong-Monfette says
May 5, 2017 at 8:20 pmWow, I have jackfruit at home, I want to try this so bad!
It says bay leaves in the ingredients. Does it means bay leaves (laurel nobilis) or indian bay leaves (that tastes like cinnamon)?
Thank you very much 🙂
Richa says
May 5, 2017 at 10:00 pmI use Indian Bay Leah by default unless mentioned otherwise. In this recipe you can use either.
Niv says
June 17, 2017 at 3:21 amHi are the measures. Right ? Half a teaspoon of most things doesn’t seem like it would create enough flavour ? I had a vegan jackfruit curry for first time at a London food month last week it was divine and I meant trying to recreate ! Thanks
Richa says
June 17, 2017 at 8:04 pm1/2 a teaspoon whole spices add a lot of flavor. Some spices have levels of flavor and go from pleasing to unpalatable after a certain amount. For eg, mustard seeds and turmeric are both bitter at higher amounts. So it really depends on if you like that bitter flavor profile. You can always add more spices (in ground form) later while the curry simmers, after a taste test
T says
July 10, 2017 at 4:07 amThanks for this wonderful recipe! I ended up adding some leftover coconut milk to it, which made it even better. 😀
Tanya says
January 26, 2018 at 4:26 pmHi there – it says for 6 people, you need 15 cloves of garlic. Is this correct?
Richa says
January 26, 2018 at 4:36 pmit depends on you. The widget just multiplies everything. flavor ingredients can be reduced or increased to personal preference as they dont affect the amounnt of the food.
Farha M says
March 24, 2018 at 3:10 amHi im going to try this recipe of yours, we have a huge jackfruit tree in yard and for years I over looked it cause I was told it’s a really messy job to clean jackfruit. But hey with Google it shows you you step by step and I found it’s really simple and easy. I have put the jackfruit to boil for 45 minutes and I’m waiting to patiently cook for the first time, thanks for your recipe.
Richa says
March 25, 2018 at 10:42 amThats awesome! Yes you can generally find everything online 🙂
Chris says
August 14, 2018 at 3:52 pmI made this and it was delicious. I made it in the instant pot, substituted the dried red chilies for cayenne pepper plus red pepper flakes, and also substituted the onion/garlic/ginger with the onion masala recipe from the ‘my heart beets’ blog. other recipes in the instant pot simply haven’t worked out for me(mostly the beets blog recipes), but this one did.
Richa says
August 14, 2018 at 4:11 pmAwesome! Instant pot can be tricky at times.
Holly says
September 18, 2018 at 6:11 pmCan I freeze this recipe?
Richa says
September 18, 2018 at 10:02 pmsure, should work just fine
Patt says
November 19, 2018 at 10:57 amI had a jackfruit dinner in Jackson, WY this fall. It was fabulous and I don’t use that word easily. It was a curried jackfruit over farro. There was fennel, and coconut milk in it, with coleslaw on top surrounded by lots of cashews.
I want to recreate that and will start with your curry. I hope I don’t wreck anything! Do you think this will work?
Richa says
November 20, 2018 at 9:13 pmGo for it, lmk how it turns out 🙂
Deborah says
November 22, 2018 at 12:07 amMy first taste of jackfruit! We loved this recipe and it’s definitely joining our regular repertoire.
My only edit was to use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes instead of the “2 medium tomatoes pureed”.
In the UK we can buy tins of jackfruit in water in mainstream supermarkets like Waitrose and Sainsburys (with the tinned veg, not in the “fancy” world foods section!)
In a “Vegan Special” food review in the Times (10 Nov 2018) Summer Pride Jackfruit in Water (sold in Sainsburys) was one of only two items with a 5/5 score.
Cindy D Raley says
February 4, 2019 at 12:44 pmHi! I am hoping to make this tonight- looks amazing!
I don’t have Nigella seeds… what would you suggest?
Thank you 🙂
vivek garg says
February 5, 2019 at 9:50 pmdried onion flakes
Marcia says
March 3, 2019 at 7:48 amIt came out a bit hot for me so I whacked some soya cream in at the end lol
Richa says
March 3, 2019 at 10:57 am🙂
A.W. Firestone says
March 11, 2019 at 12:54 pmCheck out The JackFruit Company. 30.5 oz foil container of cut up jack fruit. Contains only jackfruit and water. I don’t really like the taste as it comes out of package so I rinse it in a colander before using.
Carol says
April 22, 2019 at 1:50 amReally easy to make and simply delicious! Was pleasantly surprised. Will try your other recipes. I added sweet potato; some coconut milk. Served with quinoa & rice mix garnished with toasted walnuts.
Richa says
April 22, 2019 at 11:34 amawesome!
Ritesh Sharma says
July 30, 2019 at 11:33 pmHello richa, thanks for sharing recipie.
Is there any alternative of Nigella seeds and can i freeze the recipie?
Richa says
July 31, 2019 at 11:11 amnigella seeds are kalonji and should be easily available. You can omit them if you iike and add more garam masala to tastet
Nancy Mills says
September 9, 2019 at 6:28 pmHow much jackfruit do I use if it’s fresh?
Richa says
September 10, 2019 at 10:26 amOnce you remove the skin and the tough stem portion, measure out 15 oz to use
Bernard UK says
October 5, 2019 at 10:17 amThank you for the excellent recipe.
Very easy to prepare & cook
Looks and tastes delicious!
sue eastwood says
October 13, 2019 at 7:17 amGone straight into husband’s top ten meals!
I added some tiny cubes of potatoes and carrots, and some squares of red and green peppers to up the veg content.
Now passing the recipe on to recently veggie 15 yr old granddaughter.
Richa says
October 13, 2019 at 12:44 pmyay!
Lisa says
October 29, 2019 at 4:09 pmTried this recipe last night and it was completely inedible. The little bit of sauce it made was tasty, but the jackfruit was spongy and tasteless. I have had lots of experience using jackfruit previously and the recipes have always turned out amazing. Not sure why this recipe did not work out. I tried adding more and more spices, then I started to add more of similar spices in an effort to get flavour into the dish. Ended up throwing the jack fruit out and just using the watery sauce to flavour some rice. Waste of 2 Horus and perfectly good jackfruit.
Richa says
October 30, 2019 at 11:52 amhmm, i am not sure what happened. With all the added spice and simmering the jackfruit should have picked up flavor. Did you break the jackfruit pieces into smaller pieces? they soften on cooking and you can press and shred them during the simmering. Maybe this particular can or brand was tougher jackfruit. Whati do is squeeze the entire brine out and slice into smaller pieces and use as sometimes the pieces are too large or a bit tough. Hope this helps. What other jackfruit recipes have you tried?