Divkadgye Phodiyo (Breadfruit Fritters)

Bread fruit. I am not sure how many of you have actually heard about this fruit/vegetable, let alone seen/eaten it. There is a tree in the garden of my maternal grandparents in Matunga that yields this fruit. Bread fruit or divkadgi in konkani is a cousin of jackfruit (kadgi) and you can read more about it here.

I have not taken these pictures. I did a google image search for breadfruit and these emerged from there. I saved the pictures and so can't remember the sites from where I got them.

The picture above shows a cut breadfruit and the one below shows fruit on a branch. Since finding a tree or the fruit is a rarity, Amma used to get excited whenever she spoted either. And over the years, she has successfully managed to transfer that excitement to me.

I mentioned earlier that I am not too good at transliteration. I just read somewhere that this is also called jeevkadgi. To me it has always been divkadgi.

I had a chance to relish these deep fried beauties during my trip home a couple of weeks ago. Amma had brought a fruit from Bombay and I brought back half the fruit to Gurgaon as I was certain S had no idea what this fruit was and this would be chance to get him to enjoy something I have loved.

But I have had to eat these in moderation. Not just because they are deep fried food, but because breadfruit gives me a stomach ache in addition to being the gassy vegetable that it is. To counter this, I have asafoetida tablets immediately after my meal or drink buttermilk with loads of asafoetida.

1/2 small Breadfruit, peeled

1 1/2 tsp Asafoetida

2 tsp Chilli Powder

1 tsp Turmeric

2 tbsp Rice Flour

Salt to taste

Oil for frying

Cut the breadfruit lengthwise in 2 pieces. Cut each piece in 2 cm thick slices. You will be left with triangles like the ones in the picture.

Sprinkle the salt, asafoetida, turmeric and chilli powders over the pieces and mix well. Leave aside for 10-15 minutes.

Heat the oil in a kadhai.

Sprinkle the rice flour over the breadfruit pieces and make a coating of sorts. Deep fry the pieces in the oil and drain on a paper towel.

Enjoy these on the side with your main meal, as a starter or a snack.

The frying was done at Amma's place. When I was back in Gurgaon, I tried to follow the same procedure. Instead of frying, I smeared some oil over the pieces and baked them at 220 C for 10 minutes on each side. They didn't taste as great as the deep fried ones, but they weren't bad at all. We still enjoyed every piece along with our wine.

Off this goes to dear Asha as yet another entry for the RCI Karnataka event.