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Panasa ginjala oliga chaaru

A very special chaaru made with the stuffing used to make polis or obbatlu—this time with jackfruit seeds. This is usually made alongside polis and serves as an all-important accompaniment to them during festival times. A video showing the process of making the classic oliga chaaru is below, too. The jackfruit seed version is not much different, only substituting the poornam for one made with jack seeds instead of bengal gram dal.
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Ingredients Method Video

Ingredients
  

  • Stock from cooking 1-2 cups of jackfruit seeds
  • 1-2 poornam balls from making polis OR 4-5 jackfruit seeds, 2 tablespoons fresh grated coconut and 2 tablespoons jaggery
  • 4-5 cooked jackfruit seeds
  • 1 tablespoon fresh grated coconut
  • 2 green chillies
  • A lime-sized ball of tamarind
  • 1½ teaspoons chaaru podi or rasam powder
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric
For the tempering
  • 1 tablespoon ghee or sesame oil
  • 1 dry red chilli, broken
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon jeera or cumin seeds
  • A pinch of hing or asafoetida
  • 1-2 sprigs of fresh curry leaves

Method
 

  1. If you’re making this chaaru after having made polis, you will already have the cooking stock.
  2. If not: pressure cook the jackfruit seeds for 4 whistles (or simmer them on stovetop until they are knife-tender). Once the seeds are cooked, drain the water—but save it for the chaaru.
  3. If you’re making this chaaru after having made polis, you will also already have the poornam. If so, grind 4-5 cooked jackfruit seeds with 2T fresh coconut and green chillies. Add a little water if needed. Set aside.
  4. If you do not have the poornams ready, grind 4-5 additional jackfruit seeds with 2T jaggery and 2T coconut into a smooth paste, adding a little water if needed. Set aside.
  5. Soak the tamarind in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. Mash well with your fingers to extract the pulp, and strain, reserving the tamarind water.
  6. Transfer this to an eeya chombu or other pan, add the stock from cooking the jack seeds and water enough to make about 1 litre of liquid (if required), and bring to a boil until the raw tamarind smell disappears.
  7. Add the turmeric powder and then crumble the poornam /the prepared sweet jackseed coconut mixture and the jackseed-coconut-chilli mixture into the simmering tamarind water.
  8. Let this sit for a few minutes on a medium flame.
  9. Next, add the rasam powder, and keep the chaaru on a simmer (do not boil) until it becomes somewhat frothy.
Temper the chaaru:
  1. Heat the ghee or sesame oil in a small tempering pan. Drop in the broken red chilli.
  2. Follow with the mustard seeds, jeera, hing. Once the spices crackle and splutter, throw in the curry leaves.
  3. When the curry leaves are crisping, pour this finishing oil over the waiting chaaru.
  4. Serve hot with a nice soft white rice like thooyamalli.