How to cut a Jackfruit?

I grew up in the Coastal Karnataka where Jackfruit is in abundance. Back then, not many years back, almost every house with the backyard had a Jackfruit tree, a mango tree and few coconut trees.Since everyone had access to fresh grown Jackfruits I never realized how delicious and exotic these Jackfruits were!



Yesterday I found whole ripe Jackfruits in Ranch Market and I had to grab one. Since a lot of my friends never opened a Jackfruit from the whole fruit, I taught I will post a write up on How to Open a Jackfruit. 

You Need
1 ripe Jackfruit
1 long sharp heavy knife or Indian vegetable cutter/mettu katti in Kannada /aDDoLi  in Konkani
few tsps of flavorless vegetable oil
2 big bowls for storing the fruit.

few newspaper sheets to spread on the floor
few sheets of plain white paper to remove the latex. Do not use newspaper for this as it might spread the ink!

estimated time : 30 min - 1 hour

How to cut a Jackfruit?

1. Select a spacious clean open floor about 3-4 sq ft. Jackfruit is a big fruit, you will need quite some space and enough time for cutting and prepping the fruit. Its better executed on a floor than a counter space.
Spread the newspaper on the floor to protect the floor from Jackfruit latex.

2. Spread a thin coating of oil on the storage bowls. Generously coat your hands and the knife with oil. 

Now we have set the stage and lets start cutting into the fruit.

3. Cut the fruit horizontally into 2 half hemispheres. The latex starts oozing out. That is good..more the latex means the fruit is fresh! Use one of the plain white paper to remove the latex.

4. Start with the first half, cut vertically into 2 and further into wedges.

5. With one wedge at a time, cut the stem to expose the fruits.

6. Use the plain paper again to remove the latex. Keep doing this as required to remove the latex. If hands and knife might get entangled in the latex, rub some oil and use a clean paper to remove the latex. Paper works the best for this!

7. Peel the edible fruit from the wedges. Remove the seeds the papery seed covering from the center of the fruit. Discard the papery covering. Store the seeds and the fruit in 2 separate bowls.

8. Enjoy the edible fruit!

The seeds are edible too but after cooking.

More recipes with ripe Jackfruit

Ripe Jackfruit Fritters - Mulik
Jackfruit Dumplings - Muddo - Coming Soon!

How to Remove Jackfruit Latex from your hands and Knife?

It can be quite challenging to remove the gooey latex  stuck on the knife and your hands.

For your hands, Just rub lots of oil on your hands and wipe with plain paper. Keep doing till all the latex is gone. The wash with soap and warm water.

An effective and traditional method for your knives is to lightly heat the knife over the medium flame. As the starts latex melting use coconut fiber to remove the latex. If you do not have coconut fiber you may use non reusable scrubber or some paper. Be careful with the paper as it may burn from the heat.