This is a traditional coastal karnataka recipe called phanasaachey dhonas(in konkani)but i would like to call them as cake as my mom referred to them as cake. My mom makes this kind of cake with the same recipe using bottle gourd/cucumber(it is called Taushaulli).She always served this as evening tea time snack. Remembering about this cake made me very nostalgic.Those childhood days...those carefree days....wish i could relive them......
Now, coming back to the dish- it is a healthy dish i must say because you just steam them. I have seen some people using just a tablespoon of sugar/jaggery & not making it overly sweet. Typically this cake is not overly sweet as the flavour of jackfruit or cucumber or bottle gourd should be stronger when tasted. But i love this with lots of jaggery or sugar added as i am sweet toothed & also the canned jackfruit which i used was not sweet enough.
The shelf life of this is it can be stored in the refrigerator for several days & tastes even more better with each passing day.So Enjoy!!
Ingredients:
--------------
- Ripe Jackfruit pods-->1 cup(roughly 8 pieces)
- Rava/Semolina/sooji/cream of wheat-->1 cup
- Grated Coconut-->1/2 to 1 cup
- Jaggery/Sugar--> 1/2 to 3/4 cup
- Cashews(chopped)-->7
- Cardamoms(powdered)-->4
- Salt-1/4 tsp
- Ghee
Method:
---------
1)Roast semolina in one teaspoons of ghee over moderate heat till a nice aroma emits. Keep stirring continuously, see to it that it does not burn & turn brown.
2)Grind the jackfruit pods along with grated coconut,cardamom into a paste.
3)Now combine together the ground paste with roasted semolina,jaggery, chopped cashews and salt.
4)Let this mixture rest for 15 minutes to 1/2 an hour.At this stage the semolina will expand and will absorb the water from the mixture.The consistency should be like idli batter.
5)Grease the cooker/steamer container and pour the mixture and steam this in the cooker/steamer for 10-20 minutes without the whistle/weight.
6)Allow it to cool.Now you should be able to cut it into rectangular pieces.
7)Serve this hot or cold with ghee/honey.
Notes:
--------
- Here i made use of canned ripe jackfruit,traditionally we use fresh ripe jackfruit.
- If you donot possess a cooker take a wide deep bottomed vessel,pour about an inch of water.Now keep a small vessel at the bottom submerged in the water and on top of this place the container with the semolina mixture.Now see to it that the water level should touch the base of the container with the mixture.Now close the wide deep bottomed vessel and steam cook the mixture for 10-20 minutes.
- You can also prepare this using idli stand, by pouring the mixture into the mold and steaming like idlis so we can refer them as jackfruit idli's.
Hi Sharada,
I love jackfruit idli's/cake. I too had made them on Sunday, but haven't posted it :) I made it into idli's in small steel bowls. It's a seasonal favourite with us. Your JF squares look superb! well done! U've shared nice tips.
TC
Oh my god! I've never ever heard about this dish. Sounds unique. We don't get fresh jackfruit here unfortunately :( would've loved to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing it though.
hey sharada , thanks for dropping by..this is new recipe for me..looks like dhokla..will give it a try sometime..
Very new recipe to me.looks yum!!!
Thanks - Hema,Preety,Ujju,Suparna
hi Sharada thanks for stopping by...........hmmi kind tell you what that word phanasaachey dhonas did to me........lol it just transported me back in to the past........yes those the cucumber ones ive had them all...........part of growing up.........but somewhere along the way with mom gone too early and us being in the city........these have been kind of relegated to the attics ofmy memory bank........thanks for bringing it back would love to have tried it except i think most of these are a developed taste unlike idlis and dosas that everyone likes......and dont wnat to have to eat it all by myself......anyways thanks for taking me back in time........alwaysa pleasure...........
by the way you didn add any water so water is the semolina supposed to absorb and swell up with?
hi,
Good it took u back to good old days...if someone has a sweet tooth (like me) this will be fine to please ones sweet appetite...what say??
i have not added water 'coz i used canned jackfruit-- the water content in the pods did the job to get the right consistency -- yes swell the semolina mixture.
can you freeze thish resipe?