Chakka Appam~Steamed Jackfruit Cakes

Each year for the summer vacations, my family along with aunts, uncles and cousins would travel to Kerala to meet my grandparents. For us kids the two day train journey itself was such an adventure. I have such fond memories of those trips and miss them so much.
While we kids spent all day chasing each other and playing all kinds of fun games, our mothers probably spent most of the day in the kitchen catching up with each others life and dishing out one treat after another, after all the running around we kids were obviously hungry all the time.
Since mangoes and jackfruits were in season, they were often included in our meals in various ways. This Appam is one such treat that was made each time a jackfruit was cut and we kids and adults alike would feast on them. What I'd do to get those days back!



Jackfruit and jaggery are cooked together and mixed with rice flour and cardamom. Small portions of the dough are then wrapped in malabar leaves (edana leaf) which have an aroma very similar to that of cinnamon and then steamed to make this delicacy.

Ingredients:
450gms ripe jackfruit bulbs ( I used canned jackfruit)
450gms jaggery, grated (The dark variety is the best if you can find it)
2-2 1/2 cups rice flour
4-5 cardamoms, seeds removed and crushed
2-3tbs finely chopped coconut pieces
Malabar or Banana Leaves for wrapping (I used the later as I could not find the malabar leaves)

Method:
Chop the jackfruit into thin slices and pressure cook with 1/2 cup water till soft. Remove and mash the pulp well or pulse in the food processor till smooth.
Melt the jaggery in a heavy bottomed pan and stir in the mashed jackfruit. Cook on medium heat for about 15mins stirring frequently till the mixture is thick and has a jam like consistency.
Cool the mixture. When cool enough mix in the rice flour, adding just enough to form a soft dough. Mix in the coconut and cardamom.
Place small amounts on each leaf and wrap well, sealing all the edges, use a toothpick if necessary especially if using the malabar leaves.



Steam for about 15-20mins. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Akal of Akal's Saappadu passed on these awards to me. I feel so honoured. Thank you so much:).


I would like to share these with my blogger friends. You guys rock!

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Sending this to 'AFAM-Jackfruit' event hosted by Lakshmi of Taste of Mysore and initiated byMaheshwari of Beyond the Usual.

26 comments:

  1. I love train rides and any food tastes doubly tasty when traveling, wonderful snacks to have! :)

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  2. yay..I got fast na?
    You tempting me with all ur Chakka's??:(..miss it so much..Loved the Ada..Just wanna take a mouthful of it..:)
    Congrats n thanks so much for thinking of me Poornima..:)

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  3. Thank you Asha and Varsha...you guys got to me even as I was editing:)..Thanks again

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  4. OMG!! this is soo soo soo tempting!! :(:(
    congrats on your awards and thanks a lot for thinking about me, sweetie :)

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  5. Thanks Poornima,
    OMG! This is my first award for blogging ever and BOY! do I feel elated!I feel like I've won a beauty pageant:) It's like a good luck charm for me. thanks Poornima. Means so so so much.
    Coming to your appam.......Awesome. Wish I cud have a bite. Unfortunately, we don't get plaintain leaves in this wonderful little village of a place I live in:(
    And about Train journeys, I have had similar experiences. I used to love the pazham pori in shornur railway station. I'm admitting shamelessly that I used to eat those unhygenic stuff. Still love them:)Btw, where do you live in India, if not in kerala?

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  6. Btw, poornima, since i'm new to blogging, I really dont know how to claim the award(embarrassed about that)

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  7. Can I come home, pls? :) this is one of my favs....real tempting :)I liked ur idea of using the food processor...makes it easier i guess...

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  8. Your welcome Manju...

    You dont have to be embarassed Smitha...just copy the image and upload it to your blog...

    Shn, your welcome anytime:)

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  9. I'm a big fan of jackfruit.. i've only seen the ela ada where the jackfruit filling is stuffed in a rice flour covering.. this is different and looks gorgeous.

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  10. love the recipe and easy too but i never saw plaintain leaves here otherwise i would have given this s try

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  11. iam droolin over here....love the appam...

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  12. Hi Poornima, the Chakka Appams looks really tasty. Reminded of my own holidays when all of us cousins would have such a gala time at grandparents home and then chakka and mangoes and the traditional Kerala bananas were all such hot favorites. The train journey as u mentioned was one we looked forward to and summer vacations were so much fun.

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  13. This is something new to me. As though Iam not so fond of jack fruit.....This looks yum....Love the way it is made.

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  14. Wow Poorni this is yummmy..! don't know if i could get jackfruit here, will search and will surely make it. I'm tempted by the clicks a lot dear. Also thanks for the cute award.. :)

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  15. i loved this recipe..i saw a similar thing in maya's blog(if i am not wrong) yesterday..she made it slightly different ..good one poornima...
    would love to try this sometime..

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  16. Love this appam , new to me...thanks a lot for including me in ur frnds circle...

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  17. This is yet another dish from my childhood, i love these, you are making me homesick. Wish i had aleast one.

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  18. i like jackfruit as it is very much,one among the sweetest fruits on earth; i've never tasted this preparation, and I doubt notfor it's wonderful taste, it looks like Halwa ; so authentic with all the richness of Kerala, Coconut and jackfruits and envelopped so traditionally with those banana leaves , hmmm, i love this authencity and seems as if I'm somewhere near the greens of Kerala! nice sweet!

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  19. Sadly there is no rewind button in our lives to relive those memorable moments,but thankfully we all have such cherish able delicacies to satisfy ourselves.The appam looks like a real kiddie delight with unique malabar flavors:).
    And I'm glad to be in your circle of friends,thanks:)

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  20. I liked this recipe very much. I will defenitely try out this tommorow
    itself. Please visit our Indian Cooking
    Videos
    Recipes site. We have collected some of the Best Cooking Video
    Recipes for you.

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  21. First time here. Chakka appa looks yummy and colorful. It reminds me of my childhood days when my grandma used to make me chakka elai ada.
    Good one.

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  22. Wowww dunno how i missed to comment for this tempting appam dish...wat a lovely colou...Poornima that so nice of u for sharing ur awards with me dear...

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  23. hi poornima,

    lovely jackfruit dish..it's a treat indeed, it's very similar to konkani style jackfruit idlis..great pics :) God Bless!
    TC

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  24. Wow, delicious and i'll have to hunt for a banana leaf now.

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  25. Hi Poorni.. Do collect ur awards from my blog :)

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