Dish of Jackfruit Vegie Cashew Curry
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Jackfruit Vegie Cashew Curry


Thailand
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 3 w/rice
***
1 hr
Yes		 A Southeast Asian curry using jackfruit in place of chicken or other meat. This is often done in Southeast Asia for vegetarian fare. The curry sauce is unusual but works quite well.

13
4
8
8
4
2
5.6
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5
1
1/2
3
4
1
2
2
2
3
1
-----
oz
oz
oz
oz
oz
T
oz
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c

cl
T
T
T
T
T
t
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Jackfruit (1)
Onions
Bell Pepper, grn
Bell Pepper, red
Cashews raw (2)
Oil
Coconut Milk (3)  
-- Curry Sauce
Kaffir Leaf (4)
Red Chili (5)
Thai Basil (6)
Scallions
Garlic
Lime Juice
Fish Sauce (7)
Oil (8)
Soy Sauce
Rice Wine
Palm Sugar
-- Garnish
Thai Basil
Prep   -   (40 min)
  1. First make CURRY PASTE. Roll up the lime leaves and cut into thin threads, discard the ribs and chop the threads. Chop all solid ingredients very fine and pound into a paste in the order given (or use a mini-prep processor if you lack the large granite mortar). Mix in all the liquid ingredients and set aside.
  2. Cut Jackfruit into strips about 1/8 inch thick and 1/2 inch wide, or into whatever shape you want or can do from the starting shape.
  3. Cut ONION into thin wedges.
  4. Cut BELL PEPPERS into 1/2 inch wide strips about 1-1/2 inches long.
  5. Dry roast RAW CASHEWS until lightly browned - they will be spotted.
  6. For garnish remove some Basil Leaves from stems and start them soaking in cold water (keeps them green longer).
Run   -   (20 min)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan, heat Oil and fry Onions over very high heat until starting to become translucent, then stir in Bell Peppers and and fry stirring until crisp tender - with a few browned streaks if your stove can manage it. Remove with a slotted spoon, leaving as much oil as possible, and hold aside.
  2. Add Jackfruit to the pan. Fry stirring until coated with oil, then stir in Curry Paste and Coconut Milk. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer over low heat until Jackfruit is tender but not mushy (it should shred easily).
  3. Stir Peppers back in, Check flavor balance and correct if needed. Simmer about 2 minutes more. Don't overcook.
  4. Stir in Cashews, garnish with Basil Leaves and serve with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Jackfruit:

      13 ounces is 1 package of frozen green jackfruit. Canned green jackfruit in brine can be used. For details, see our Unripe Jackfruit page.

  2. Cashews:

      Raw is best, but if all you have is commercially roasted they can be used (different flavor) if unsalted - or give them a quick rinse to get the salt off.

  3. Coconut Milk:

      This amount is actually somewhat variable. I call 5.6 ounces because that is the size of the small Aroy-D cans I always have on hand.

  4. Kaffir Lime Leaves:

      These come 2 leaves to a stem, so this recipe needs 3 stems (unless one of the leaves on your stems is very small). For details See our Kaffir Lime page. If you don't have them, grate the zest of the limes before you squeeze them for lime juice.

  5. Red Chili:

      Thai red chili is fine, or whatever fresh red chili you have - Arbol, Fresnos, Holland Red or similar is fine. Increase if you want the dish hotter (it's very mild with just one Thai Chili). For details see our Thai Chilis page.

  6. Thai Purple Basil:

      For the curry paste, the measure is 1/2 cup lightly packed whole leaves. If you don't have Thai, regular purple basil is good, but don't use Thai lemon basil - that's for salads. For details see our Thai Purple Basil page.

  7. Fish Sauce:

      Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce is easily available - but if you want pure vegetarian you can use Yellow Bean Sauce or see our recipe for Vegetarian Fish Sauce. Commercial vegetarian fish sauce is available, but generally pretty awful.

  8. Oil:

      Any good quality but not strongly flavored oil is fine - I always use Pure Olive Oil (not virgin).
  9. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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