Butter jack and rice | Photo Credit: Wakao Foods
Jackfruit season is upon us, and from seed to rind, no part of this vegetable is going uneaten
Raw jackfruit in a burger, in your bao and in your ravioli. With veganism, plant-based diets and sustainable living gaining momentum, the use of jackfruit is being reimagined all over the world. Especially in India, where it is a familiar summer fruit.
When Goa-based entrepreneur Sairaj Dhond decided to launch a food business five months ago, he chose to focus on jackfruit. The brand, Wakao Foods, began with a range of heat-and-eat products jack patty, teriyaki, barbecue and even butter chicken-inspired butter jack. The best seller is the jack burger patty and he is currently working on developing a range of desserts from raw jackfruit. It retails online, and has physical stores in Goa, Maharashtra, Telangana, and New Delhi. Chennai and Bengaluru are next on his list.
The village of Zapade, in Maharashtra, is home to a farmer who is unique in a way he has steered clear of growing Alphonso mangoes, which are a favourite of every Konkan farmer. Instead, he has introduced the cultivation of jackfruit. In all likelihood, Harishchandra Desai is the only farmer in the state to have devoted 13 acres of his farmland located in Lanja taluka of Ratnagiri, to solely growing this otherwise ignored fruit.
At 60, Desai looks towards a future when the phanas (the Marathi word for jackfruit) will receive its dues for bringing prosperity to farmers in the wettest region of the state. “Every year, a week before Vat Poornima in June, traders arrive at the Konkan villages to pick jackfruits and pay a paltry of Rs 5 to Rs 10 per fruit,” says Desai, adding, “I want to change that.”