Kathal Ki Sabzi is an Indian style stir fry of unripe jackfruit cooked with onion, tomato, and spices. The Punjabi kathal sabzi is a gluten-free, vegan, and one-pot recipe. Serve it with dal fry, raita, and piping hot chapati for a wholesome Punjabi style lunch.
From my first introduction to date, I have always enjoyed eating kathal ki sabzi. It is the meaty texture that always attracted me towards this humble fruit.
The dish has a fibrous texture and delicious taste to it, hence it can be labeled as mock meat also.
Kathal Sabzi is a widely popular dish across North India. From sabzi, pickle to biryani, jackfruit is used in many regional Indian recipes. In my husband’s Sikh family also, jackfruit sabzi is prepared often during the season.
What kind of jackfruit is best for making sabzi?
The raw, unripe jackfruit with tender seeds is best for cooking. The color of the unripe jackfruit should be milky white and not pale yellow. The ripe and sweet jackfruit with hard seeds should not be used for making sabzi.
The best season to get unripe tender jackfruit is from May – July or before the monsoon/rainy season. In some parts of India, unripe jackfruit is available during the winter season as well.
How To Clean Kathal (Jackfruit) For Sabzi?
Firstly, don’t get intimidated by the complex structure of the fruit. Once you get the technique to clean the jackfruit right, nothing can stop you from making delicious jackfruit recipes every day.
Nowadays, many supermarkets sell cleaned, ready to use pieces of jackfruit sealed in a plastic bag. When I am in no mood to put an extra effort, I buy one of those packets from the supermarket or request my vegetable vendor to clean a small portion of jackfruit for me.
This cleaning process can be used for both ripe/unripe variety of jackfruit.
- To peel the jackfruit, first, grease your fingers well with mustard oil or cooking oil. Place a bowl of mustard oil next to you while cutting the jackfruit, as you will need to smear your palms with oil from time to time. Oil prevents jackfruit fibre from sticking in your hand.
- With a sharp knife remove the skin of the jackfruit. Cut the inner white coloured fibrous part into big chunks. Remove any thick stem in the centre, before cutting big chunks into smaller pieces.
- Do not wash the jackfruit after cutting into small pieces. Wipe off the dirt, if there any with a clean kitchen towel. The tender seeds inside the jackfruit can also be added in the sabzi, remove the seed skin.
How To Store Unripe Kathal (Jackfruit)?
The unripe jackfruit pieces should be stored in the fridge (not freezer) in a ziplock bag and consumed in a day or two. Because after a day or two it starts ripening and not in the best stage to make sabzi or curry.
Even the slightest hint of ripeness in the jackfruit might not result in a delicious kathal (jackfruit) ki sabzi. You can also wrap up the pieces and keep them in the freezer for up to one month. But the flavor is best enjoyed when eaten as fresh as possible.
How To Make Punjabi Kathal Ki Sabzi At Home:
Fry Jackfruit: Start with frying the cleaned, chopped jackfruit in mustard oil till it turns pale brown in color. Transfer to a metal colander. Set aside. Frying gives jackfruit a delicious texture and reduces cooking time.
Make Masala: In the same kadhai after frying jackfruit, add the chopped onion. Fry onion till light brown in color.
Next, add the ginger and garlic paste, chopped tomato, spices, and salt. Fry the masala till oil separates. This usually takes 5 – 10 minutes over low heat.
Add the shallow-fried jackfruit in the kadhai, stir to combine so that jackfruit pieces are evenly coated with the spice mix. Cover with a lid and let the sabzi cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally in between.
During this time the jackfruit pieces absorb the flavor of the spices. Check for doneness and turn off the heat.
Serve Kathal Ki Sabzi hot, garnished with coriander leaves.
Serving Suggestions:
In a Punjabi household, Kathal Ki Sabzi is mainly served with chapati or phulka. Since it is a dry dish, we accompany it with these Indian dishes:
Panchmel Dal (No Onion/Garlic)
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Kathal (Jackfruit) Ki Sabzi Recipe
- Heavy Bottom Kadhai
Ingredients
- 500 gram unripe jackfruit (kathal)
- 2 Cup mustard oil, for deep frying
Ingredients For Masala:
- 1 Cup chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon ginger – garlic paste
- 1 Cup chopped tomato
- Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder (dhaniya powder)
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala see recipe here
Instructions
How To Clean and Chop Kathal (Jackfruit):
- To peel the jackfruit, first, grease your fingers well with mustard oil. Place a bowl of mustard oil next to you while cutting the jackfruit, as you will need to smear your palms with oil from time to time. Oil prevents jackfruit fibre from sticking in your hand.
- With a sharp knife remove the skin of the jackfruit. Cut the inner white coloured fibrous part into big chunks. Remove any thick stem in the centre, before cutting big chunks into smaller pieces.
- Do not wash the jackfruit after cutting into small pieces. Wipe off the dirt, if there any with a clean kitchen towel. The tender seeds inside the jackfruit can also be added in the sabzi, remove the seed skin if you prefer so.
How To Fry Kathal (Jackfruit):
- Heat mustard oil in a kadhai or skillet over medium flame. Once the oil starts fuming, add jackfruit in small batches. Shallow fry the jackfruit pieces till light brown in color. Transfer to a metal colander. Set aside.
How To Make Kathal Ki Sabzi:
- In the same kadhai, add the chopped onion. Fry onion till light brown in color.
- Next, add the ginger and garlic paste, chopped tomato, spices, and salt. Fry the masala till oil separates. This usually takes 5 – 10 minutes over low heat.
- Add the shallow fried jackfruit in the kadhai, stir to combine so that jackfruit pieces are evenly coated with the spice mix. Cover with a lid and let the sabzi cook over low heat for 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally in between. During this time the jackfruit pieces absorb the flavour of the spices. Check for doneness and turn off the heat.
- Serve Kathal Ki Sabzi hot, garnished with coriander leaves.
Recipe Notes:
- See my detailed notes above about how to clean unripe jackfruit for making sabzi.Â
- The raw, unripe jackfruit with tender seeds is best for cooking. The color of the unripe jackfruit should be milky white and not pale yellow.
- The best season to get unripe tender jackfruit is from May – July or before the monsoon/rainy season. In some parts of India, unripe jackfruit is available during the winter season as well.
- The unripe jackfruit pieces should be stored in the fridge (not freezer) in a ziplock bag and consumed in a day or two. After a day or two, it starts ripening and not in the best stage to make sabzi or curry.
- You can also wrap up the pieces and keep them in the freezer for up to one month. But the flavor is best enjoyed when eaten as fresh as possible.
4 comments
Hi Hina, we use a lot of jackfruit in our part of the world, and love it all sorts of different versions. This recipe is quite different from the way we cook it, and I am definitely going to try it out, it sounds simple and quite delicious. Thanks for sharing! Kaveri
Hi Kaveri, Thanks for taking time out and sharing your thoughts on the recipe. In the local cuisine we have one more recipe of jackfruit in which it is not deep fried but the method of making it is similar to that of a chicken/mutton curry, with plenty of onions and spices. And here people hardly enjoy the ripe jackfruit like commonly done in the Southern areas.
This is the easiest and simplest kathal ki sabzi recipe I have come across. And this is precisely how my mum used to prepare kathal. Thanks for keeping it short and simple:)
Thanks a ton. I learned it from my mother in law. Happy you liked the recipe.