24 June 2021

Gariyo | Jackfruit Fritters

The 24th of June is the feast day of St. John the Baptist, and is celebrated in a big way as São João in Goa. With Goa being a Portuguese Colony till until the second half of the 20^th century, it is no surprise this festival finds its roots in Portugal. It is celebrated in a big way in the city of Porto in Portugal with festivities beginning in the afternoon of São João’s eve (23^rd June) and lasting until the early hours of the 24th of June. In India, this feast has a host of festivities and traditions associated with it. The most well known one is – this day is observed as “Patholinche Fest”.

On this day families prepare and eat Jackfruit Patholis (steamed Jackfruit- Rice Dumplings). I absolutely love the patholis and couldn’t hold back my excitement when I found a freshly cut ripe- jackfruit at my local Indian store. I would have made the patholis, but I have no access to the teak leaves used to wrap the batter for steaming. Yes! alternately banana leaves could be used too but I was unable to source any. So, I decided to make the next best thing I can make out of the ripe-jackfruit – The Gariyo! And as if to complement it perfectly, it has been raining heavily out here in Germany since couple of days – reminiscent of the monsoons back home.

The jackfruit is native to South India and is a very versatile fruit. When raw, it is used as a vegetable to make curries and stir fries and when ripe, the jackfruit bulbs can be eaten as is or used in various sweet preparations, the Gariyo being one of them. Monsoons are the time when the jackfruit is in great demand back home. I will talk in more detail about São João and the jackfruit some other time, probably when I make the patholi. For now let’s talk about the Gariyo!

Gariyo are nothing but jackfruit based Fritters. Ripe Jackfruit bulbs are ground with pre-soaked rice and grated coconut to form a batter and then deep fried. The ripe jackfruit has a strong fragrance, which diffuses through the entire household. Imagine the fragrance when it is deep-fried! I remember those days, coming back from school in the beautiful Mangalore rains (oh how I miss them!), walking into a house filled with the intense aroma of deep-fried Gariyo, Mom used to prepare for me and my siblings. Absolutely irresistible! Biting through the crispy deep-brown exterior into the yellowy mushy interiors was a treat to the taste buds.

How to make Gariyo

Cutting a jackfruit and extracting the bulbs and the seeds is laborius and a bit messy process. I am gonna skip that for now. Clean the Jackfruit bulbs and grind them together with a blend of raw-rice and par-boiled rice / idli rice, along with ground cardamom. Do not add any water while grinding. We need a very dry batter. The moisture from the bulbs and the pre-soaked rice will suffice for grinding. Once you have a thick-dry batter, transfer it to a mixing bowl. Parallely, heat oil till it is medium hot.

While the oil heats up, mix-in freshly grated coconut along with jaggery and a pinch of salt. Gently fold in the mixture until well combined. Do remember, the consistency of the batter may vary based on how firm and ripe the jackfruit bulbs are. If they are very ripe and bit soft/ mushy, the batter will not be dry enough. Compensate this with the addition of coconut. Also based on the sweetness of the jackfruit bulbs, you may have to adjust the amount of jaggery you use in the batter.

Once the oil has heated up, drop lime-sized portions of the batter into the oil. Do not overcrowd the pot. Cook for a few minutes till the gariyo are of a deep-brown colour and firm on the outside. Remove using a slotted spoon and transfer to an absorbent kitchen towel. Continue frying the rest of the batter.

You can enjoy the Gariyo, piping hot along with a glass of tea/ coffee by the window sill, watching the beautiful monsoons. The good thing about the Gariyo is that they store well without refrigeration. Place them in an air-tight container and you can enjoy them for atleast 3 to 4 days. They will go a bit hard on the outside but the taste will be unchanged. This is a super simple snack to make. Give it a try!