How to cook and eat breadfruit?

[Mark]

I have never eaten breadfruit and decided I should locate one in a market somewhere and see how it is. Can anyone suggest a good way of preparing it?

Thanks!

Mark

[farook]

The process is quite tedious, could be tricky to get the right consistency. Though there are a few videos on YouTube for anyone who is new to cooking it would take a few tries till one gets in right.

[Mark]

Thanks Farook.

I watched one where it was just tossed on a fire and roasted, then peeled and sliced. Another where it was first sliced up then fried in a pan and eaten like toast.

How do the breadfruit-eaters on the forum prefer it to be prepared? There must be some favorite other ways out there.

[farook]

Mark, Though I am into my family retail business of selling Indian Art I have done my hotel management course and for the past 15 years provide hotel consultancy to new and existing restaurants. Being in this profession I can tell you there would be very few people who want to continue as a chef or a hotel manager. While IT professionals code programmes and teachers teach children, hotel staff spend most of their time either burning their hands or hearing filthy language from a drunk guest. The marble flooring and air-conditioning is all for the comfort of the guest, to the staff its how many more minutes till the next blasting for a mistake done by someone else. Sorry Sir, please accept my apologise sir. we would look into it sir, can I offer you a complimentary tea as a apology sir and on and on and on...

No doubt they are paid well but here is one example how they spend their day.....

While it would difficult to follow if I explain the procedure here is one way of making it...

Baking by itself can be quite tricky. We need to keep trying until we get the consistency right. Don't get discouraged if you don't get it right on the first try. As an industry standard it takes three years of cooking for a chef to start cooking on their own. There after you would enjoy it. Personally nothing in the world gives me the joy as much as cooking and serving to my family.

[pradeep.kumar]

Very well said and Wise words from Farook
Yeah cooking is an art and you have to try and re-try till you perfect it.

[brihacharan]

Here's a recipe passed down from my grandmother to my mother and on to my wife....
Try it out - Enjoy
1 Bread fruit serves 2-4 Persons
Ingredients
1 ripe Breadfruit
75ml Coconut Vinegar
2 Table spoons of Turmeric Powder
1/2 Table spoon of Chilli Powder
1 pinch Salt
1 pinch Pepper
2 Table spoons of Garam Masala (mixture of cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, aesofodita)
2 Table spoons of Garlic Paste

Method:
Peel the Breadfruit, then half and quarter it. Discard the core.
Cut the fruit into 1 cm thick slices and make some cuts on it. The cuts will be helpful while marinating it.
Place the slices into a container and throw in all the above mentioned ingredients - Vinegar, the turmeric powder, the chilli powder, salt & Pepper, Garam Masala and the Garlic paste. Marinate the fruit well with your hands and leave it for at least 30 minutes.

Heat up some cooking oil in a pan and once hot add the marinated fruit slices. Fry on each side for 5 minutes until both sides are golden brown and turn a bit crisp.
Garnish with some crushed aniseed and serve hot as a snack or as a crispy side dish with rice & curry.


Briha

[airgun_novice]

Dear brihji,
Thank you for breadfruit preparation. I have two Qns though -
1. Where does one get the coconut vinegar ? I mean getting (USA) Apple Cider vinegar itself is a tough job in Mumbai with the Chinese Synthetic White vinegar flooding every regular store. (I typically shop at the grocer's or the Tata Star Bazaar and often settle on USA Red Grape vinegar or not at all)
2. Where does one get breadfruit - star bazaar or my roadside fruit vendors have never heard of breadfruit. (I was almost lucky to get a dragon fruit at Star Bazaar and each fruit cost a pocket burn)
BTW from your recipe I presume we "treat" it just like raw jackfruit or sweet potato, right ?
regs
A.

[farook]

Very well said and Wise words from Farook
Yeah cooking is an art and you have to try and re-try till you perfect it.

Thank you for the compliment Pradeep and Wishing you a Happy Birthday

[xl_target]

Well, Mark, don't feel bad.
I have never eaten Breadfruit either.
It is not something that was commonly eaten in any of the six or seven states in India that I have lived in.

[brihacharan]

Dear brihji,
Thank you for breadfruit preparation. I have two Qns though -
1. Where does one get the coconut vinegar ? I mean getting (USA) Apple Cider vinegar itself is a tough job in Mumbai with the Chinese Synthetic White vinegar flooding every regular store. (I typically shop at the grocer's or the Tata Star Bazaar and often settle on USA Red Grape vinegar or not at all)
2. Where does one get breadfruit - star bazaar or my roadside fruit vendors have never heard of breadfruit. (I was almost lucky to get a dragon fruit at Star Bazaar and each fruit cost a pocket burn)
BTW from your recipe I presume we "treat" it just like raw jackfruit or sweet potato, right ?
regs
A.

Amol!
> Usually Bread fruit is available at Kerala / Goan / Manglorean stores...
> Right - you treat it as raw jackfruit / sweet potato....
> Coconut vinegar is usually stocked by Goan grocery stores....
Briha

[brihacharan]

Well, Mark, don't feel bad.
I have never eaten Breadfruit either.
It is not something that was commonly eaten in any of the six or seven states in India that I have lived in.

> Just remembered .... In the film "Mutiny on the Bounty" - Capt. Bligh on landing in Tahiti asks his major-domo Fletcher Christian to look for Breadfruit to feed his sailors

> In the 1962 film - Marlon Brando played Fletcher Christian & Trevor Howard, Capt. William Bligh.
Briha

[airgun_novice]

quote]
> Usually Bread fruit is available at Kerala / Goan / Manglorean stores...
> Right - you treat it as raw jackfruit / sweet potato....
> Coconut vinegar is usually stocked by Goan grocery stores....
Briha

Thanks a lot for the pointers. Will check out stores in Bandra the next time I am around there, Panaji being a rather long call. BTW, can I mix dry coconut powder or grated fresh coconut with Red Grape (natural) vinegar as a substitute ? If not harmful, can try the concoction out on fried elephant's foot (suran). BTW, must thank Mark for sparking this round of innovation in the kitchen.

[TwoRivers]

Mark,

go to Hawaii and have some "poi". Briha's recipe seems like a vast improvement. The taste of poi is normally likened to library paste, and I think that's a pretty good description.

[shooter]

hi guys is breadfruit the same as jackfruit?

[xl_target]

No Shooter, it is not.


This is what it looks like.

I think it is more typically a West Indian/caribbean food, than Indian.