Green Jackfruit Carnitas and Three Bean Chilli

Its a recent thing in the UK, names being given to storms, but I can't help feeling since naming the storms the frequency of them seems to have increased, as every other month there is another one. 

There was one last weekend and another is battering us in Wales as I write. The mighty force of the high winds means people cannot stand up in the wind and rain. There are floods, Welsh river bursting banks and landslides in coal mining communities.  Every year our greenhouse, no matter where we have lived - our greenhouse has got a battering and we have had slates come off the roof and water pour in.  This year alongside fretting about the same things as other people in their homes. I am also looking out the back window as we are the only house in the street with a big tree behind us and a number of its branches have fallen, so its quite frightening time watching it sway quite furiously in the wind. I tell myself the tree has probably been there longer than the house, so will hold, but it still makes me nervous.  Needless to say, I have not ventured out, but D has braved the weather and has been out in the garden to fill the bird feeders.

I am sharing a dish I made a little while back from the cookbook Vegan Mock Meat Revolution by Jackie Kearney.  Its another book that was gifted to me by D.  

The recipe Green Jackfruit and Three Bean Chilli was rich, thick, unctuous and comforting to eat.  Lots of different flavours and spices. 

It was good for us for two days as the recipe served six and my husband can eat for two people.  The dumplings were lovely the first day, voluminous, but the following day (when I took this picture) the dumplings did not rise so well the following day, perhaps they were too cold from being in the fridge the previous day - not sure.

I also made Jackfruit Carnitas from the book, as I had all the ingredients to hand.  However, my photograph below makes the recipe looked insipid compared to the colourful one in the cookbook that was golden and warming, but it tasted very good.  

I am sharing this blog post with Weekend Cooking Event hosted by Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food related post to share. 

Jackfruit Seitan 'Steaks'

Wonderful regular and loyal readers please do not be concerned I have not become 'a meat and two veg' person overnight. This 'Steak' may not look it, but it is 100% vegan it is made with vital wheat gluten (seitan) and jackfruit.

I have been wanting to make Seitan Steaks again for a while and as much as I enjoyed them in the past I found the texture too firm, as well as a little dry.  Then I remembered a while back seeing a few recipes that incorporated jackfruit and seitan together.  I thought this made sense in relation to adding stringy texture to the seitan, but wondered if it also added moisture and decided to have a go at making them.

The finished result was amazing to look at.  I have never in my life eaten a meat steak, but this visually mimicked the real stuff, it was kind of freaky.   Then I tasted it.  It tasted amazing, not at all dry.  In fact it was very moist and the addition of the BBQ sauce on top was not necessary, but it added another level of flavour.  I have to confess, it was way too big for my belly and I could only eat a half, so I have suggested dividing the sietan jackfruit mixture into 6 pieces, than just 4 - but this is up to you. 

I served the Jackfruit Seitan Steaks with Roasted Sweetheart Cabbage and Sweet Potato Wedges. But on another day we had it with oven chips and mushy minted peas. Both times we really enjoyed both the flavour and moist texture of the Jackfruit Seitan 'steaks'.  

I am sharing this big plate of food with Jackfruit Seitan 'Steaks' with Healthy Vegan Fridays by Rock My Vegan Socks and V Nutrition.

Bakers Dozen: Vegetarian Vegan Meat Free Fruit Curry Recipes

This Meat Free Fruit Curry blog post came about after conversing with my vegetarian blogger friend Johanna who blogs over at Green Gourmet Giraffe.  Johanna had recenlty made a variation of Peach and Chickpeas Curry inspired by Jack Monroe, I commented that I too had made a variation of Jack Monro'e Peach and Chickpea Curry a few years back.  

It was  in making that Peach fruit curry that both inspired and gave me the confidence last year to make a vegan Plum Chickpea Curry with the plums that were literally falling from the garden tree. 

This blog engagement with Green Gourmet Giraffe got me thinking and swiftly decide to share 13 Vegetarian and/ or Vegan Meat Free Fruit Curry Recipes and try and inspire some of you to try some of these unusual combinations, after all if we can have vegetables in desserts, puddings and cake - then I guess, why not a savoury sweet fruit curry.

Yes, I am being a little self-referential, but it is my blog space and start of with my own variation of of a Pakistani recipe Watermelon and Black Beans Curry  with Paneer or Tofu. 

Hispanic Papaya Curry from The Hispanic Kitchen.  If your interested I also made a Mauritius version of Green Papaya Curry with Soya Chunks. 

Orange 'Chicken' and Spicy Fruit Curry from Mouthwatering Vegan Recipes

Ms Marmite Lover South African Bunny Chow with Peach Curry and Sultanas with crusty bread.  

Ms Marmite Lover also has a  recipe for Sri Lankan Pineapple, Cashew and Coconut Curry on her website.

Pineapple, Ginger and Tofu Curry from A2K A Seasonal Veg Table

Sri Lankan Spicy Green Apple Curry from The Flavour Blender

You will find a lot of chicken curry recipes made with pear, but you may be interested to note that Food 52 have a recipe for Pear, Butternuts Squash Curry Soup (no photograph)

Strawberry and Puy Lentil Curry from A2K _ A Seasonal Veg Table

Mango Coconut Curry aka Ambya Sasam from Enjoy Indian Food.

Kerala Jackfruit Curry from Sanjeev Kapoor

You will also find a recipe for Spinach Curry with Fresh Apricots from Azelia's Kitchen (no photograph) 

To end, as I begun with the awesome Jack Monroe, she even has a Banana Chickpea and Tea Curry. but it is very possible that this Banana Curry recipe is inspired by the Queen of Vegetarian cuisine in the UK Rose Elliot as she has a Banana Curry with Cashew recipe in The New Complete Vegetarian Collection (2010) check out the recipe here.

Do you have any Vegetarian Vegan Meat Free Fruit Curry Recipes to share?!

vegan Sri Lankan Style Jackfruit Curry - Polos Ambula

This  is a very inauthentic take on a Sri Lankan Jackfruit Curry known as Polos Ambula.  

I say inauthentic for two reasons.  One I have adapted it to my vegetarian palette.  There is only one ingredient that makes it unsuitable and that is umbalakada (maldive fish powder) so it was easy to omit that and replace with vegan fish sauce alternative, tamari or even a dash of seaweed powder and therefore also accidentally vegan.  Two, I was unable to get my hold of some of the ingredients required to make this recipe as close to the original such as goraka (a sour - acidic fruity spice) and rampe (pandan).  The others such as karapincha (curry leaves), fresh and the dried variety, sera (lemongrass) and thunapaha (curry powder) can be found in most towns and cities in the UK. I also have to admit, I had to look these up the translation for most of these ingredients as I was unfamiliar with them and landed on very interesting blog referenced below.

Vegan Mofo prompt today Cook Something different'.  Yesterday I showcased a Cashew 'Cheese' which was new to me. Today I share a Sri Lankan dish called JackFruit Curry - Polos Ambula.  In my 8 years of food blogging, I have made Sri Lankan cuisine before, but not often enough. 

Aubergine, Black Bean Pepper Pot
Beetroot Coconut Curry 
Carrot and Cabbage Curry
Chilli coconut and Runner Beans Pie 
Chilli Coconut Relish Bulgar Wheat Salad

I have been wanting to make this Sri Lankan Jackfruit Curry for a long while. First delay was getting my hands on Jackfruit and then when I looked at the recipe closely, it demands a long list of spices that I was unfamiliar with as mentioned above.   Undeterred I decided to give this a go.  I am hoping to make it again and track down the ingredients to make Polos Ambula again and a little more properly, but here is it at first attempt.  I found myself automatically shredding the Jackfruit - vegetarian pulled 'pork' style, which it was not necessary as this dish is supposed to be served in chunks, so I will do that next time 

I finished it off by bathing it in some coconut milk, I use only half a can as I did not want it to drown.  I found the chilli a little harsh, perhaps this dish like many spicy dishes is better a day later.  If you put the pot in the oven and cook it slowly it will darken in colour too.

Please read this very interesting  and insightful blog post by Renuka of Fenugreek who gives more insight into Sri Lankan cooking and its ingredients and a wonderfully written blog post on how Sri Lankan people do things in threes.

Vegan Jackfruit Pulled 'Pork' Tomato Ragu over Soft Polenta

I saw a meat version of meat version of Ragu and Pulled Pork on blogosphere a couple of weeks back and it got me thinking that I could do this with Jackfruit. Plus it was a different way to enjoy both Jackfruit and polenta.  We only ever eat polenta as part of my vegan Mexican Tamale Pies, so wanted to try it differently.  

Here is Polenta in bowls topped with the vegan Jackfruit Pulled 'Pork'.  Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and tuck in immediately.  

Easy Vegan Pulled Jackfruit 'Pork Quesadillas

I made these easy vegan pulled Jackfruit 'pork' Quesadillas after work one evening when we had hardly any fresh vegetables in the house. 

I had some tortilla wraps left over that we ended up using for some of the Somalian Fava Bean dish, I had thought about making some vegetarian cheesy Quesadilla's, a back up lazy hunger pang filler, but then I remembered my stash of tinned Jackfruit.

At the same time  I remembered a fellow blogger mentioning on one of my previous Jackfruit posts had I tried it in taco's or Mexican food.   I had not, so it got me thinking.  Quesadillas are not hard to make, its really the filling that is the part that needs the most focus and once that is done, well your ready to make Jumping Jackfruit in a flash! 

 For this particular Quesadilla filling I decided to adapt a vegan chorizo, potato and thyme quesadilla recipe and the BBQ pulled Jackfruit and this is what we ended up eating with a side of leafy greens and tomatoes.  

Jackfruit is fast becoming one of D's favourite dishes as he exclaimed 'Ah this is one of my faovurite dishes, I could just eat it from the bowl' taking a mouthful. 

Zimbabwean Squash Stuffed with Pulled Jackfruit 'Pork"

One of the aims of Refugee Week is to promote positive encounters between asylum seekers and refugees and members of the receiving communities, as well as raising awareness.   The theme for Refugee Week for 2016 is Welcome.  As my blog is a vegetarian food blog my Simple Act is to Cook A Dish from Another Country and try and raise some awareness that way among some of my readers.

Today I will share a vegetarian Zimbabwean Butternut Squash recipe.  But before I share the recipe, I would like to shine a little light on Zimbabwe.  Since 2000, the scale of state violence, the political instability and economic deprivation  in Zimbabwe has seen the UK receive refugees from there. 

A refugee is someone whose asylum application has been successful and who is allowed to stay in another country having proved they would face persecution in their homeland.

Zimbabwe's human rights record under Robert Mugabe has been criticised by the international community, including the European Union, UN, US and other countries. Mugabe's authoritarian regime has used force and torture to oppress political opposition. But not all Zimbabweans in the UK are refugees.  The NHS has attracted many Zimbabwean doctors and nurses, so it is important to recognise and embrace the positive contributions made by Zimbabweans too. 

Zimbabwean cuisine is heavily meat based.  However there are some crucial vegetable based dishes, but they are staples and are often served as accompaniments such as covo, maize and sadza.   Sadza is made from maize.  It is described as a across between mashed potato and rice. Covo is a green vegetable similar to spring greens and is often served with sadza, meat and sauce.  

After speaking to two of my colleagues, both of Zimbabwean heritage, they both recommended a Pumpkin dish, a change from the traditional Peanut Stew known as Haku ne dovi, but like true African men neither cooks.  One relying on his mothers cooking ;and the other on his wife's, neither were not able to give me a recipe.  I did a little research and got their approval on the authenticity of a vegetarian dish made with Gem squash.  The only comment was that they had had this dish, but it wasn't filled up so much with additional ingredients.   I went ahead and adapted the recipe with the more readily available butternut squash in the UK.  The roasted butternut squash was really delicious.  It was cooked well that you could literally spoon it from the glossy skin like mash lifting upon your fork popping sweetcorn and melty cheesy goodness.  The original recipe states that you could make it with your choice of protein, instead of some cooked beans like kidney beans, I decided to add Jackfruit.  It was truly one of the best dishes I have made without the addition of spices, just some fresh herbs and seasoning.  This is made with cheese, but is very easy to veganize.  I am sharing this with Bake of the Week hosted by Casa Costello and Maison Cupcake; Cindy for Gluten Free Fridays 

and CookBlogShare hosted Hijacked By Twins;  

Vegan BBQ Pulled Jackfruit

I've had a vegan BBQ pulled Jackfruit 'pork' bookmarked for a long while (2012) by Clean Green Simple who was given the recipe by a friend of a friend who owned a restaurant in Los Angeles, USA called Pure Luck (now sadly closed).  The Pure Luck restaurant and its famous eats are even acknowledged in the cookbook Thug Kitchen which inspired the authors BBQ Bean Burritos with Grilled Peach Salsa recipe.

Anyway, I was then reminded of my bookmarked recipes when a fellow blogger shared on Facebook a link to Buzzfeed Food of a film clip called BBQ Pulled Jackfruit That'll Fool Meat-Eaters.  

I've had Jackfruit a few times in a curry, but it never crossed my mind to share it on my blog as its one of those dishes that I take for granted and don't think of it being overly unusual or exotic, but when I saw Jackfruit being used as a substitute for meat and in a BBQ type dish, well like any greedy vegetarian person, I wanted to try it.