Key to local food security

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How many times have you given that cold look to the spiked, rotund, all too ‘nadan’, jackfruit in your backyard and shopped for comely apples and grapes? The fruit has silently borne the ingratitude and the disgrace of having been neglected in the culinary practices of the land. The National Jackfruit Festival, organised by the National Horticulture Mission and Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action in association with Santhigram, articulates a strong plea in favour of this fruit as a key to local food security. The stalls inside the pavilion at Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds showcase a plethora of value-added products made from jackfruit, ranging from squash to jams, ‘payasam’, sip-up, ‘pappads’,  jelly and shredded and dried jackfruit flakes which can be soaked overnight and used for cooking tasty traditional dishes. Dried jackfruit seeds, ready-to-use payasam mix with jackfruit pulp, shredded jack in honey - the possible menu using jackfruit as the main ingredient has been thoroughly researched by the self-help groups and training centres imparting courses in making and preserving value-added products. It is estimated that around 75 percent of the jackfruit that grows across the country is wasted annually. While the fruit and products made from it can become easily-available foods, Kerala has grown to cultivate a distaste for the homely fruit. In its tender stage, jackfruit can also be used as a vegetable, while the ripe fruit can be cooked and preserved for a long time.The festival also includes a National Workshop and Skill Training on jackfruit products, cookery competition, poster exhibition and other promotional activities. Visitors to the exhibition can also buy machines that help chop jackfruit flakes for frying and also tree saplings. The festival organisers highlight the fact that jackfruit is a ‘kalpakavriskha’ - while the fruit which grows in all seasons can supply food round the year, a mature tree makes for excellent timber. The festival concludes on Monday.