Raw Jackfruit Pickle (Kadgi Nonché)

Raw Jackfruit Pickle (Kadgi Nonché)

Kadgi nonche - raw jackfruit pickle. Spicy, tangy and 😋💥💖💕❤️🔥🤩😘😍😋 delicious... 😊
A must make during summers in Konkani households 🏠. Devoured with curd rice, dalithoy and rice, steaming hot congee, dosas, idlis and with pretty much anything. 

Konkani households have a legacy of making pickles. We make raw mango pickleraw jackfrut pickle, bamboo shoot pickle, hog plum picklebilimbi pickle and many many more all around the year. These spicy pickles are enjoyed with idlis, dosas, steaming hot congee, curd rice, dalithoy-rice and with pretty much anything.

In Konkani households tender raw jackfruits are used to make delicious pickles called kadgi nonche in Konkani. Pickles are made using only raw jackfruits or are made in combination with raw mangoes, bilimbi, hog plums for tanginess. 

Raw jackfruit pickle when is made with care can be stored for 5-7 days at room temperature and can be stored for 2-3 months, sometimes upto a year under refrigerated conditions. Raw jackfruit pickle can be had as soon as they are prepared. That's when raw jackfruits in the pickle have a nice crunchy bite to it. As days pass by raw jackfruit pieces in the pickle lose its firmness and gets soft. Raw jackfruit pickle takes best after a week or two of preparation, that's when spiciness, saltiness and tanginess present in the pickle would have combined well with each other.

Raw jackfruit pickle is called kadgi nonche in Konkani, kadgi means raw jackfruit and nonche refers to pickle in Konkani. 


Ingredients:

  • 1 small tender raw jackfruit (1/2 kg)
  • 25-30 raw bilimbi/8-10 raw, mature mangoes depending on their size
  • 1/4 kg dried red chillies
  • 1/2 cup mustard seeds
  • A chickpea sized crystal asafoetida
  • 2 cups of rock salt

Preparation Time: 1-2 hours

Serves: 35-40 servings


Using the right raw jackfruit to make pickle:

Use as tender raw jackfruits as possible to make this pickle. Tendermost raw jackfruits are best suited to go into this pickle. Tips to identify tender raw jackfruits perfect for making pickle:

1. Thorns on the peel of tender jackfruits would be small and tiny, they would be very close to each other.

Raw jackfruits on the left in the pic below are best suited to make this pickle - kadgi nonche. 

Raw jackfruit below has almost reached it's maturity. The thorns on the peel are spaced out and are fully grown. They aren't best suited to make this pickle. However the tiny raw jackfruit on the left in th pic below are best suited to make pickle.

2. Seeds present inside the raw jackfruit, would have just been formed and would be very soft. 

That’s how you know raw jackfruit is tender and is perfect for making pickle. 

P.S: It is ok to use a little mature raw jackfruit to make pickle but tender most raw jackfruits are best suited. When I say little mature raw jackfruits I mean raw jackfruits whose seeds have developed but are soft inside. Once the seeds start to harden you can't use them in pickles. The texture won't be right and they disintegrate into the pickle and won't hold shape.


For raw jackfruit prep you'll need:

  • A sharp sickle (called as koithi in Konkani) or a sharp knife.
  • Lots of clean newspapers.
  • Coconut oil or any other oil to grease your palm and your knife.
  • Few bowls to hold chopped raw jackfruits and the discarded skin.
  • Large ceramic jars (bharani in Konkani) or glass jars to pickle them in.
  • Tissue papers

For pickle preparation you’ll need:

1. Lots of clean, dry vessels, plates, a cloth.
2. Lots of clean, dry spoons.
3. Dry mixer/grinder to grind.


Preparation Method:

Prepping raw jackfruit:

1. Spread out 3 layers of newspapers on the floor or on your table. It's a pain to later clean jackfruit sap sticking to the floor/table.

2. Apply generous amounts of oil onto your knife/sickle blade and onto your hands to prevent jackfruit gum from sticking to your knife, fingers and hands. 

3. Chop raw jackfruit in the middle into 2 halves, wipe clean the white sap that drips off using a tissue paper.

4. Chop it further into halves. Chop each piece further into halves depending on their size. Clean off the sticky sap using tissue papers. These halves are called as 'shedo' in Konkani. 

5. Chop off the outer skin of raw jackfruit until you get a smooth surface and the thorny outer skin of jackfruit is all gone. 

6. Chop off the inner core portion of the jackfruit, from each of the slices. The inner jackfruit core is the hard, white portion at the top of each piece.

7. Then chop these jackfruit pieces into 1/2 inch thick pieces and keep them aside.

Cooking raw jackfruit for making pickle:

8. Heat 1/2 a litre of water in a cooking vessel, add in 1/2 cup of rock salt and chopped tender raw jackfruit. Cook it until tender raw jackfruit is almost cooked.

9. Remove it off heat and keep it closed. We want the tender raw jackfruit to just cook enough and not get soft.

Do not let raw jackfruit get overcooked or let it get soft. Cooked raw jackfruit should have a nice bite to it. 

You can also cook tender raw jackfruit in a pressure cooker for just a whistle using 2-3 cups of water and 1/2 cup of rock salt. But you would have to take care that tender raw jackfruit doesn't get soft. If they get soft, they aren't suitable to be used in a pickle. 

10. Keep it aside and let it cool off completely.


Prepping bilimbi/hog plum/raw mangoes:

11. Heat 3/4 cup of rock salt in a wok for 5-6 minutes. Saute so that they heat up uniformly. This helps get rid of all the excess water present in it. During the process all the excess water present evaporates out. Remove it off heat and keep it aside to cool down completely.

12. Meanwhile wash bilimbi (bimbal in Konkani), wipe them dry and clean. Then slit each bilimbi into 2, 4 or 6 pieces depending on their size. Add in cooled down rock salt, mix well and keep it aside for a minimum of 30 minutes so that it takes up salt.

OR

13. If you’re using raw mangoes (ambuli in Konkani)then use mature, raw mangoes. Wash them, then wipe them clean using a dry cloth, remove off it's twig and chop it into cubes. Discard it's hard seed. Add cooled down rock salt to them in a dry air tight container and keep them aside for 3 hours. 

Use mature raw mangoes and not tender raw mangoes, so that they give out it's tanginess.

OR

14. If you’re using hog plums (ambado in Konkani), then wash them, wipe them dry and then chop them into pieces if they're tender. If you're using mature hog plums then smash them well. Add cooled down rock salt to them in a dry air tight container and keep them aside for 3 hours.

It's highly unlikely in coastal Karnataka that hog plum season and raw jackfruit seasons overlap. Both of them may not be available during the same time of the year. So, use bilimbi or raw mango. 


Next step:

15. Once cooked raw jackfruit cools down completely, strain out all the water completely into a vessel. Make sure it’s cooled down perfectly & is at room temperature or else the pickle will get spoilt. 

16. Mix cooked raw jackfruit pieces well with bilimbi/raw mangoes/hog plums in the jar and keep them aside for atleast an hour in an air tight container so that raw jackfruit takes up salt.  


Making salt water to grind pickle with:

17. Add remaining 3/4th cup rock salt to half a litre of water and bring it to boil. Then simmer the water for 5-6 minutes. We need concentrated salt water.  

18. Let this water cool down completely. Then use it to grind pickle.

Grinding pickle:

19. Soak asafoetida for 30 minutes in cooled down salt water. It should completely melt in the water. 

20. Meanwhile separately powder mustard seeds and red chillies into fine powders in a dry mixer jar and keep them aside. Make sure the mixer bowl and cap are completely dry without any trace of water.

21. Grind the powders together along with melted asafoetida, using enough cooled down salt water to make a smooth paste.

22. Use a clean, dry 'wet grinder' for a very smooth textured pickle. Alternatively, you can also use the mixer you used before to grind, just the texture of pickle may not be as smooth as the one obtained through a wet grinder. 

23. Transfer ground pickle to a dry vessel and keep it aside for about 30 minutes. During this 30 minutes after grinding, pickle cools down a little. Just a precaution to prevent pickle from getting spoilt and to store them for longer. 

24. Meanwhile check the consistency of the pickle. We need a semi thick pickle. Add more salt water to the pickle or use the brine formed in the bilimbi/raw mangoes/hog plums jars to get the desired consistency.

25. After about 30 minutes of grinding, add pickled raw jackfruit, pickled bilimbi/raw mangoes/hog plums from the jars into the ground pickle and mix well.

Do not add more brine if it dilutes the pickle. Strain out the raw jackfruit pieces, bilimbi/hog plum/raw mango pieces and add them to the pickle. 

26. Store pickle in a dry place in an air tight container and take care no water content gets into pickle. Water content will speeden pickle spoilage. 

27. If you're emptying the pickle within 5-7 days then store it at room temperature, if not store it in the fridge. It'll then stay good for 2-3 months.

Other famous, raw jackfruit Konkani cuisine favourites

Tags: Pickles, raw jackfruit, nonche, kadgi, bilimbi, bimbla nonche, ambuli, raw mango, hog plum, ambade nonche, ambado, GSB Konkani recipe, vegan, vegetarian recipe, South Canara Konkani recipe, Konkani cooking, GSB Konkani cuisine.