In summer. you can see jackfruit trees loaded with their huge fruits . Even in those days of large families . it was not possible to consume all the fruits . So to avoid wasting the fruits , our elders wisely used to make Ponsa Varatti – a preserve of these fruits – to be used later when Jackfruits are not in season .Delicious pattolis & payasus used to be made even after 6 months after the season – all because of this preserve !
This does need some patience & close attention while making . But the delicious results will last more than six months . So next time you have a large Jackfruit -dont be stumped as to what you will do with it . Just make this Varatti & later enjoy it for days to come !
I make this plain . If you want you can add flavours by adding Shunti ( dry ginger ) powder & cardamom powder .
Ingredients :-
- Ripe Jackfruit bulbs – 1kg – (cleaned & seeds removed )
- Jaggery – 200 gms or more as per taste ( if your jackfruit is very sweet – this will suffice )
- Ghee – 4 tbsp
- Patience – loads of it 🙂
Method –
- Chop the bulbs & grind them in a mixer to a paste . DONT add water !
- The Paste is ready!
- Add the paste in a thick bottomed Uruvali / Kadai/ non-stick pan . Keep on medium fire & keep stirring .Saute for a while .When the paste starts sticking add a tbsp of ghee
- Continue stirring until the water content has reduced considerably . Add the powdered jaggery to this . Since I had good quality Jaggery I added it directly . If your jaggery is not so pure Make a thick syrup & strain to remove impurities and then add.
- Continue stirring until the jaggery has melted , the paste has turned to a dark brown and has thickened considerably
- Keep stirring & adding ghee little by little until the paste has become dry & comes together as a lump .
- You can know this is ready when you see the ghee oozing out & the paste is all in one single lump . Let cool completely by itself & then transfer to an air-tight -sun-dried container . If stored properly this will last more than six months .
Notes :-
- Ponsa varatti should be completely dry to last long . If water content remains – it will spoil!
- Colour of varatti depends on the colour of your jaggery .
- Darker colour of jaggery will give darker brown to almost black colours .
- Use good quality bulbs the firm variety – – Avoid the -Tilluvo variety (soft ) .
Konkani Khann Anik Jevan 
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