Much before the West discovered and declared jackfruit a superfood, it had been part of Indian culture for centuries. We eat both ripe jackfruit and green jackfruit, which we call enchor. While many shy away from the strong smell of jackfruit, you cannot stay away from enchor, which has a beautiful taste when cooked, almost like mutton. It’s no surprise that enchor is also known as gach patha, which translates to “the mutton of the tree.” People often cook enchor as mock meat due to its unique taste. We cook echorer dalna, a 100% vegetarian recipe, without the addition of onion or garlic.

echorer dalna 3

Green jackfruit itself has such a beautiful taste and texture when cooked, that it doesn’t need too many spices. While you can make it with onions, garlic, and a variety of spices, this recipe is vegetarian. Cumin takes the lead with a subtle earthy taste, with tomatoes and Bengali garam masala adding to the flavour. The cubed potatoes are a must to complement the texture of the enchor. You can add prawns to it, and it becomes enchor chingri. Of course, in the end, a drizzle of ghee and split green chillies are a must in this recipe of echorer dalna.

echorer dalna 4

enchorer dalna 2

Green jackfruit is available only for a very short period during the beginning of summer, and we make the most of it. You can prepare dishes such as enchor chingri, enchorer dalna, and even enchorer biryani, which is a popular dish at many summer weddings. There’s a secret to making it brilliant, which I learned from one of the wedding caterers. They deep fry the cubed and boiled jackfruit before adding it to the gravy, and that’s what helps hold the shape and, of course, enhances the taste.

Here are a few pure vegetarian recipes that you may like:

Baby pumpkin stir-fry– Kancha Kumro’r Torkari
Paneer cooked with fennel- Mouri bata diye paneer
Yam Curry- Ol’er Dalna
Ash Gourd in Mustard Sauce– Shorshe chalkumro

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Echorer Dalna | Bengali Jackfruit Curry

This is a light and flavourful green jackfruit curry cooked in Bengali style, called echorer dalna.

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Prep Time 1

Cook Time 1

Course Main Course, Vegetarian

Cuisine Bangladeshi, Bengali, Indian

Servings 5 people

Ingredients

1 small green jackfruit (1 to 1.5 kg in weight)
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 cup mustard oil
2 dried red chilies
1 dried bayleaf
3 green cardamoms
3 cloves
½ inch cinnamon
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
1 pinch of asafoetida
1 heaped tsp ginger paste
1 large tomato (finely chopped)
2 green chilies
salt to taste
½ tsp sugar
1 tbsp ghee
¼p tsp Bengali garam masala

Instructions

Take a small green jackfruit (1 to 1.5 kg of weight). Discard the skin and the inner stem and cut the rest of the fruit into 1.5 inch cubes.
Keep them in water till you are ready to cook.
Peel the skin of two potatoes and cut them into 1 inch cubes as well.
Add the cut enchor in boiling water with salt and a large pinch of turmeric powder. Cook until the enchor has softened but holding shape. Drain the water.
In a kadai, heat 3/4th cup mustard oil and fry the echor for 4 to 5 minutes until golden. Set aside.
In the same kadai ( add more oil if needed), heat the oil and add the following one after the other- dried red chillies, bay leaves, cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon, and cumin seeds.
Add the potatoes and fry on high heat for 2 minutes and then reduce the heat.
Make a spice paste of cumin powder, coriander powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, a large pinch of heeng (asafoetida) and ½ tsp turmeric powder with water.
Add this spice paste to the potatoes and give it a good mix.
Sauté the spices for 5-6 minutes, adding water if needed.
Add 1 heaped tsp ginger paste, 1 large tomato finely chopped, and 2-3 green chillies, and cook till the spices blend well.
Cover and cook the potatoes with the spices on low heat and sprinkle water if needed.
Once the potatoes have softened, add the fried enchor. Add salt to taste and ½ tsp of sugar.
Add water to cover the enchor and braise for 5 minutes.
Finish with ghee and garam masala. Let it rest for 2 minutes before serving with rice or roti.