Vegan Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi

Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi recipe or mangalore southekai gassi is a tasty and flavorful Udupi style coconut-based curry. A vegan coastal Karnataka recipe

Warmth of spices, sweetness from jaggery and coconut with added crunchiness from jackfruit seed is a great main course dish. This is a no dal side dish.

This is a Udupi style no onion-garlic curry recipe. Its easy one pot curry recipe. It is a healthy, nutrient filled side dish.

Most of the curry recipes from Udupi cuisine are flavored with fresh coconut and basic Indian spices making it more delicious.

This is a healthy summer dish prepared in most of the household from coastal Karnataka and I have given STEP BY STEP RECIPE AND A QUICK VIDEO TUTORIAL.

This is a must prepared dish when jackfruits are in season. This side dish is also prepared when jackfruits are offseason when seeds are stored for rainy season.

This popular curry is called as GASSI in UDUPI and MANGALORE REGIONS of Karnataka. Few regions in malnad regions of Karnataka also make this curry. 

It is spelled in different ways gasi, ghasi or ghashi but they remain the same. It means the curry is thick in consistency and not thin.

Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi is incredibly delicious and easy curry to incorporate jackfruit seeds and assuring that it becomes the family favourite.

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Check a quick video of making mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi and try this in your kitchen. If you have enjoyed the video do subscribe to Dice n Cook Youtube channel for more food videos.   

Why will you love this curry?

Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi is

• Healthy
• Wholesome
• South Indian side dish recipe
• Coastal Karnataka recipe
• Protein packed
• Dairy free
• Vegan recipe
• Rich, thick and creamy
• Plant based diet
• Great side dish
• No onion-garlic curry
• Easy to make & can be refrigerated

What are jackfruit seeds?

Jackfruits are the largest fruits from plant kingdom. These are tropical fruits grown South Asia, Central and Eastern Africa, SouthEast Asia and other tropical places.

It’s a largest tree-borne fruit with green sharp spiky exterior with interior yellow flesh or lobes.

Fresh sweet ripe jackfruits are consumed as it is however many regions in India and other parts of the world use them in cooking many dishes.

Unripe jackfruits are used as vegetable, and are used as substitute to meat as well.

Fresh well grown ripe jackfruit flesh have well packed healthy seeds. If you have never cut a jackfruit, learn more about in this video here

The fleshy lobes are consumed, and seeds are thrown away immediately by many.

However, it’s important to remember that these nutty textured kernels can be used in many savory and sweet recipes.

During the summer season, jackfruits throne the markets. This is the right time to clean and store the jackfruit seeds. 

Few things to know about jackfruit seeds

Healthy edible jackfruit seeds are perfect summer ingredient which is usually thrown after eating jackfruit.

Important health benefits of jackfruit seeds are

• Rich in fiber
• Protein rich and other essential vitamins
• Promote gut health
• High in anti-oxidants
• Shows strong anti-bacterial properties.
• Great source of iron
• Boost immunity due to vitamin C and other anti-microbial activities.

Jackfruit seeds cannot be eaten raw, they should be either roasted or boiled to be used in dishes.

The recent by-product of jackfruit is the seed flour which is used in many baking dishes. They make great ingredient for many delectable desserts.

I have few recipes using healthy jackfruit seeds, check them on blog to use them in your kitchen

Baked jackfruit seed crackers

Jackfruit seed vegetable salad

Jackfruit seed athirasa

Jackfruit Seed Methi Curry

How to store and use jackfruit seeds?

When jackfruit seeds are fresh, we can use them to make this Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi, however we can also use dried ones as well. When jackfruits are available in plenty, we usually store the seeds for use in future.

Simple steps to store jackfruit seeds:

• Remove the jackfruit seeds from fleshy lobes.
• Next remove the outer thin, soft skin from seeds.
• Wash the seeds to remove any remaining latex.
• Sun dry these seeds for 2 to 3 days.
• White outer skin becomes dry and keeps the inner brown seed safe.
• Store this at room temperature or refrigerate the seeds.

IF THE SEEDS ARE STORED WITHOUT DRYING THEY GET SPOILT WITH FUNGAL GROWTH.

Follow the below steps to use the dried and stored jackfruit seeds:

• Check the seeds before using in cooking so that they are healthy fungus free.
• The peeling of the jackfruit seeds is a laborious process. Frist we must remove the outer white skin of jackfruit seeds.
• Seeds with white covering is removed using a stone crusher or pestle. This helps to easily peel the white cover easily. White peel can be removed by bare hands if the seeds dried well. But be careful, the white peel tends to pierce the nail skin.
• These brown seeds are used. For making this gassi, we are using cooked jackfruit seeds.

Next let’s see simple ways to cook the jackfruit seeds to make Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed

Ingredients for Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi

To make the coconut masala we use

Rice – I have used sona masuri rice in this recipe. You can use any raw rice. We prefer using short grain rice and not the long grain rice.

Coconut oil – This oil gives the best flavour to gassi. Since coconut oil is commonly used in most for the dishes from Udupi and other coastal Karnataka regions.

The spices used to make coconut masala are methi seeds or fenugreek seeds or menthya. This gives nice aroma to gassi or curry.

Other spices include cumin or jeera or jeerige, chana dal or split bengal gram or kadale bele, White urd dal or deskinned split black gram or uddina bele.

The next spice which gives the maximum flavour to this curry is coriander seeds or dhania or kothambari beeja.

For giving spiciness to this gassi we use dry red chili. Add as per taste preference.

One more important ingredient is fresh coconut. This dish is incomplete without coconut.

Asafoetida or hing also adds a nice aroma.

If the jackfruit seeds are not cooked well, they may cause bloating. But adding asafoetida helps to reduce any problems with gut issues due to jackfruit seeds.

The other ingredients used in this gassi are Mangalore cucumber pieces, cooked jackfruit seeds, jaggery powder as per taste.

Jaggery is optional, since many jackfruit seeds are sweet to taste. You can skip jaggery based on taste of seeds.

To complete any dish a must have ingredient is salt, and to balance the flavours you can add tamarind paste.

For tempering:

We use coconut oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves and dry red chilies. This is an authentic way of tempering or seasoning any coastal Karnataka style curry.

Most of the ingredients used in this recipe is basic Indian spices and available in your pantry. So, make use of them to make a delicious Mangalore cucumber curry. However, if you don’t find some of them, can be procured online.

Equipment

No fancy equipment is required to make this dish, just the basic mixer or blender from your kitchen, a thick bottom cooking vessel and a ladle to mix.

How to cook jackfruit seeds?

Jackfruit seeds should be cooked well.

The method of cooking I have used here is pressure cooking the seeds. However, you can also cook by steaming or boiling them in enough water. Cook them as convenience but make sure to cook them well.

Jackfruit seeds should be pressure cooked well. The seeds should be soft to handle but not creamy or should not dissolve while cooking the gassi.

If the seeds are soft, you need only one whistle to perfectly cook the jackfruit seeds. If they are completely sun dried and hard, then they need 3 to 4 whistles while pressure cooking.

How to cook Mangalore cucumber?

Mangalore cucumber or mangalore southekayi or madras cucumber is a variety of cucumber grown in coastal Karnataka, malnad regions of Karnataka, other South Indian states. They are also called as sambar cucumber, a typical South Indian vegetable. Details here

They are rich in vitamins and antioxidant properties.

This is a vegetable which is not eaten raw but cooked and used in dishes.

Every part of this cucumber starting from peel to seeds is healthy and used in South Indian cooking. Ripe ones are orange in colour with yellow stripes, we also find green cucumber with light yellow stripes. 

Note: Few of the mangalore cucumber are bitter to taste. So be careful to check them before you cook. There is one method to remove the bitterness, you can wash the chopped cucumber well and soak them in water for an hour. This way you can reduce the bitterness to some extent.

Chop the cucumber with skin and pressure cook them with little water. Note that not to overcook them. The cucumber pieces should be translucent and shouldn’t appear white. This indicates it is perfectly cooked.

How to make mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi or curry

This gassi requires some preparation like chopping the mangalore cucumber, peeling the white skin of jackfruit seeds and pressure cooking the vegetables.

Preparation

To begin making this recipe, gather all the pantry ingredients with seasonal jackfruit seeds. Keep aside.

In a pressure cooker, cook the cucumber cubes with little water. Pressure cook for 1 or 2 whistles, turn off. Allow the pressure to release slowly.

Cook the jackfruit seeds in pressure cook. Add little salt and water enough to cover the seeds. Pressure cooked for 3 to 4 whistles if the seeds are hard and if not cook for less time. Allow the pressure to release naturally.

Frying the spices for coconut masala

Heat a pan, add rice and fry on low heat until they puff up and change colour lightly. Remove this from heat and keep aside.

Next fry all spices on low heat, since each spice requires different time for frying

In the same pan, add 1 tsp coconut oil. Add methi seeds and fry well on low heat.

Next add cumin and fry well until you get nice aroma.

Add chana dal or kadale bele and urad dal. Fry these two also along with other spices.

Next add coriander seeds, fry well until you get nice aroma.

Add dry red chilies, fry until they become crisp.

All the spices along with red chilies should be fried well in coconut oil until you get nice aroma and spices turn golden crisp texture.

Cool all the fried spices to be later ground with fresh coconut gratings.

Grinding coconut masala

For grinding the coconut masala, take freshly grated coconut, dry roasted rice, asafoetida and fried cooled spices.

Using a mixer grinder, grind into fine paste and keep this coconut masala paste ready for making gassi.

Making gassi

In a cooking vessel, take cooked cucumber pieces and pressure-cooked jackfruit seeds.

Add jaggery and salt as per taste with tamarind paste to the boiling vegetables.

Boil this mixture for 2 to 3 minutes. So that the vegetables take up the basic flavours.

Add the ground coconut masala, mix well so that vegetables and masala blend well.

Adjust the consistency at this point by adding required quantity of water. The gassi is usually thick in consistency so add little water and check the consistency.

As cucumber jackfruit seed gassi boils the mixture thickens, so you can adjust the consistency.

Cook gassi for 5 minutes on low heat. This ensures that the flavours blend well and a delicious gassi is ready for seasoning.

Tempering / Seasoning

We do a typical coastal Karnataka style seasoning for this recipe.  A must coconut oil seasoning giving an authentic taste and aroma to gassi.

For seasoning heat a pan and add coconut oil. When the oil is hot enough, add mustard seeds, fry well and as it splutters add curry leaves. Fry well until they become crisp.

Add red chili and fry until they are crisp. Add the seasoning to cucumber jackfruit seed gassi and enjoy with hot rice topped with some extra coconut oil.

Serving Options

Serve this cucumber jackfruit seed gassi with steamed rice, Indian flatbread like chapati or poori or rotti, neer dosa. In our family we usually serve it with steamed rice for lunch and dinner.

Variations

Mangalore cucumber can be replaced with vegetables like bottlegourd, potato or ash gourd, yam. However, cucumber and jackfruit seed combination are the best!!

Fresh coconut gratings can be replaced with dry coconut or kobbari.

If you don’t have jackfruit seeds, then they can be replaced with kabuli chana or black chana.

You can make the gassi with only jackfruit seeds skipping cucumber.

Adjust the quantity of fresh coconut depending on personal taste preferences. If you want the curry to be thicker then add more coconut.

Coconut oil can be replaced with any refined oil, however it gives the authentic taste of coastal Karnataka.

You can also temper with crushed garlic by skipping asafoetida.

Important tips to make Mangalore cucumber jackfruit seed gassi

Note that not to overcook the cucumber. The cucumber pieces should be translucent and shouldn’t appear white. This indicates it is perfectly cooked.

Jackfruit seeds should be pressure cooked well. The seeds should be soft to handle but not creamy or shouldn’t dissolve while cooking.

Cook on low heat with continuous stirring to avoid burning at the bottom.

If you like this recipe, try other coastal Karnataka or Udupi recipes that can be made in your kitchen

Rasam Powder , Mango Sasive , Raw Jackfruit Sambar

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can we make this recipe glutenfree?

Yes it can be made glutenfree by avoiding asafoetida completely. Please do check the spices for their production information to know whether they are processed in glutenfree environment.

Can we use uncooked jackfruit seeds?

No, uncooked jackfruit seeds cannot be used. They are hard to chew and causes bloating if not cooked well.

Can we add any other vegetables?

Yes we can add other vegetables like pumpkin, yam and bottlegourd to make this gassi.

Which red chilies are used?

Most of the recipes from Udupi cuisine use byadagi red chilies which is less spicy and pungent. So same applies to this recipe as well.

If you want spicy gassi, use guntur with byadagi chilies. If you want bright red colour you can always use Kashmiri red chilies as well.

Can we use green chilies?

You can use half of green chilies and few red chilies for coconut masala. However the taste and colour of the curry changes.

Why use rice in making coconut masala?

Short grain sona masuri rice is used for making coconut masala.

Roasted rice gives nice aroma and flavour to masala. In a small way it adds to thickness of gassi.

Can we refrigerate the leftover?

Yes leftover gassi or curry can be refrigerated and used the next day.

Can we freeze the gassi?

I don’t recommend freezing the curry, as it loses texture, taste and freshness. So you can either use it the same day or refrigerate the leftover.

Can we use the seeds with the skin?

No, jackfruit seeds should be deskinned and pressure cooked for making this gassi.

Can we refrigerate coconut masala?

We can refrigerate the ground coconut masala. This helps in meal planning and masala can be ground in advance making it easier to quickly make the curry.

Can we do ghee tempering?

Yes ghee tempering can be made. Ghee can be used instead of coconut oil, however you will not get the authentic flavour.

Can we add onion and garlic in this recipe?

No, this recipe is authentic no onion-garlic side dish.

Can we use spices without roasting?

No, spices need to be roasted in coconut oil to get the authentic flavour for making the coconut masala.