Swetha's Fusion

Halasina Hannina Mulka - Jackfruit Fritters

Friday, June 26, 2020

Here is one more traditional sweet snack from my kitchen to yours. This is a common snack during Jackfruit season in South Canara (Western Ghats of South India) region. Try this yummy recipe and enjoy it with your family.

You may also try Banana Mulka

Ingredients:

10 to 12 - fully ripe Jackfruit pods/arils
1 cup - whole wheat flour
½ cup - grated coconut (may be grounded too)
½ cup - jaggery or brown sugar or liquid jaggery
½ tsp - cardamom powder
3 tsp - milk or water - as & if needed to get the right consistence.
Oil for deep frying

Optional Ingredients:

1 tsp - honey
1 tsp - cashew nut powder
pinch of baking powder or Eno fruit salt
pinch of nutmeg pdr, cinnamon pdr, cloves pdr or black-pepper pdr ( I use bit of cloves and pepper powder when prepared as snack, slight hint of spice goes well with evening tea/coffee)
pinch of salt

Method for extracting the jackfruit arils and separating the seeds from the flesh:

Apply oil on your hand, cutting board and knife. Also a good idea to spread a newspaper for easy cleanup. As when fruit is pruned, the inner part (core) secretes a sticky, milky liquid, which can hardly be removed from the skin, even with soap and water. Applying oil ahead helps the clean-up.

Separate each firm yellowish aril (seed coat, flesh), which has an intense sweet taste.

Slit open each aril and reach in to pull out the seed and its coat - thin, waxy, parchment-like and easily removable testa (husk) and a brownish, membranous tegmen.

Steps to make Mulka:

In a blender or food processing grind the Jackfruit pods/aril to a smooth paste.
In a deep bowl, add the ground Jackfruit paste.

Add coconut, jaggery and cardamom powder Jackfruit paste, and mix it all together. Optional ingredients other than the baking powder may be mixed together at this stage.

Start adding the wheat flour little by little and see how much you need. ( If baking powder is used, add it along with the flour) The consistency should be of thick cake or pakoda batter. If it is too runny, add more wheat flour. If it is too hard, add bit of milk or water and mix.

Pour oil into a frying pan and place our medium-high flame. Once the oil is hot enough, take out small portion of dough and slowly place them in hot oil. If you are not comfortable with hand, use a table spoon to carefully put the dough in the oil. Don't worry about the shape of the mulkas. Fry them in small batches and keeping the flame in medium-low. Use a slotted spoon to turn the mulkas so that they cook evenly on all sides. They are ready after 2-3 minutes or as soon as they have a rich, dark golden color. Take them out from oil. Place them on kitchen paper tissue to drain excess oil.
Mulkas are ready to eat. Serve hot or at room temperature.