Jackfruit Payasam (Ponsa payasu)

Jackfruit Payasam (Ponsa payasu)

Jackfruit payasam - a treat to jackfruit lovers. A heavenly tasting thick dessert made using ripe jackfruits. This dessert tastes and smells jackfruits. And while it's cooking your house will smell divine too.

Soft ripe jackfruits floating in a sea of coconut milk imparting its amazing smell and taste to it, resulting in a delicious, creamy jackfruit flavoured syrup. An absolutely delicious ripe jackfruit dessert that can be enjoyed piping hot or cold.

Coconut milk forms the base for this payasam & jaggery is used as the sweetener. Rice grains/rice flour is used to make this payasam thick and cardamom is used to add an amazing flavour, aroma to this payasam. 

Ripe jackfruit payasam is called ponsa payasu in Konkani. Ponasu means ripe jackfruit in Konkani. Ripe jackfruit payasam is also called gharai in Konkani, coming from the word ponsa gharo, which means ripe jackfruit pods in Konkani.

Summer is when ripe jackfruits are found in abundance in Karnataka. That's when my mom would make this delicious dessert for us. Two other ripe jackfruit delicacies of Udupi, Mangalore are ponsa mulik (sweet fritters) and ponsa idli (jackfruit idlis). Do give them a try too if you love jackfruits. They're amazingly scrumptious & you'll love them. 

Watch it's making here:

 

 

Here's the recipe to make delicious ripe jackfruit payasam.


Ingredients:

  • 6 ripe jackfruits
  • 1/2 cup powdered jaggery
  • 1 cup grated coconut
  • 1/2 teaspoon rice grains or 1 tabslepoon of rice flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Serves: 2-3

Preparation Time: 35 minutes


Preparation Method:

1. Deseed, finely chop ripe jackfruit and transfer them into a cooking vessel. Tips on how to chop & prep ripe jackfruit

2. Cook chopped ripe jackfruits with half a cup of water until they are almost cooked. Do not add excess water as it'll make the payasam watery in the end.

3. Add in jaggery when jackfruit is almost cooked and mix well. Adding in jaggery earlier may hinder ripe jackfruits from cooking through & getting soft.

Adjust the amount of jaggery you add according to your palate. Add jaggery depending on how sweet ripe jackfruits are & how sweet you would like your payasam to be. 

Ripe jackfruits give out water on cooking, jaggery when is added, dissolves & further makes it very watery. So, do not add excess water in the beginning.

4. Grind grated coconut & rice grains together using one cup of water into a smooth paste.

Rice grains when ground & added, helps thicken the payasam on cooking. If you're using rice flour then skip using rice grains while grinding.

5. Strain the obtained coconut milk and add it to the cooking jackfruit pieces in the cooking vessel.

6. Add in cardamom powder and mix well.

7. If you're using rice flour instead of rice grains, then mix rice flour in little coconut milk. Mix the flour such that there are no clumps formed & add it to the cooking payasam.

8. Let the payasam simmer for few minutes until the ripe jackfruit cooks through & until the payasam gets semi-thick in consistency.

9. If your payasam is still runny, mix some more rice flour (1-2 teaspoons depending on how watery your payasam is) in very little water. Mix the flour such that there are no clumps formed & add it to the cooking payasam. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. It'll help thicken your payasam.

10. Adding rice grains/rice flour to the payasam thickens it on cooking. It further continues to thicken as it cools down. So, keep it semi-thick in consistency & remove it off heat. 

11. Serve the payasam steaming hot and enjoy!


Side Note:

1. The sweeter the ripe jackfruit you use to make this jackfruit payasam (ponsa payasu) the better it is. The lesser the jaggery you would have to add in that case. The more jaggery you use, the more watery your payasam gets. More rice flour/rice grains you would have to use in the end. Using more of them meddles with the taste of payasam. 

2. You can also add chopped cashew pieces, fried in ghee to the payasam for added crunch with every spoonful of payasam. 

3. Not-so-sweet ripe jackfruits that aren't a pleasure to eat are usually used to make payasam. But taste of this payasam very much depends on the ripe jackfruits you use. The sweeter, tastier jackfruits are, delicious payasam you make in the end.

4. Store the jackfruit seeds and you can make a yummy side dish (called as bikanda sukke) out of it. 

5. If you liked this recipe and are a jackfruit fan then you might also like ponsa mulik (sweet fritters) and ponsa idli (jackfruit idlis).


For more Konkani desserts and sweets recipes look here.


Tags: Jackfruit, ponosu, ponsa payasu, payasam, gharai, dessert, sweet dish, Konkani cuisine, Konkani food, Konkani recipe, GSB Konkani cuisine, GSB Konkani recipe, Konkani cooking, ponsa payasu, ripe jackfruit payasam, vegan dessert, vegetarian dessert.