Onam is the harvest festival of Kerala and also the day to comomerate and celebrate Vamana and King Mahabali .Whole of Kerala and Malayalees world over celebrate the day with a lot of joy and happiness. Onam is a ten day festival and as per gregorian Calender falls anyday between August - September which coincides with the  Chingam Month as per Malayalam Alamanac on the star of Thiruvonam or Sravanam which is the 22nd star or Nakshatra.

Mahabali was a very generous and powerful king who ruled Kerala and there was abundant prosperity and happiness during his reign. It is believed that on this day King Mahabali or Maaveli visits the land of Kerala and rejoices with the people of the land . To welcome the King ,an elaborate rangoli or kolam using flowers is decorated at every home , a lavish spread known as Sadhya is prepared and the annual boat race is held by the State .

ONAM is the annual state festival of Kerala.

I have already posted almost all recipes prepared for a Sadhya on my blog .I will post the link below which can be used as a ready recokner. 

Today we shall see a very traditional and authentic sweet chakka Pradhaman made using Jackfruit Jam known as Chakka Varatti . I have already posted how to make chakka varatti during jackfruit season .

This paysam is really easy to make if we have the chakka varatti ready on hand . The other  version to make Chakka Pradhaman from scratch can be found here. 

Without further delay,let me get to the recipe quickly .

Method

• Blend the chakka varatti, grated coconut and jaggery with 1/4 cup water to a very fine paste .
• In a heavy pan ,heat the ghee and fry the coconut bits until they turn crisp and brown.
• Pour the blended paste to this fried coconut and bring it to a quick boil .
• Add the thick coconut milk in the end ,mix well and turn off the stove .Donot try to over cook or boil the Pradhaman after adding the coconut milk ..the Pradhaman will curdle .the heat is enough to cook the coconut milk and take away the raw smell.
• Delicious chakka Pradhaman is ready. 

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Sadhya recipes on the blog. Click on the individual items below to get detailed recipe

• Erissery
• Kootu Curry
• Puli inji 
• Avial 
• Kaalan
• Pulissery
• Cabbage thoran (coconut based curry)
• Beans carrot thoran
• Mambazha Pachadi
• Vellarikaai Pachadi
• Inji Thayir
• Sambar 
• Rasam
• Aval payasam
• Paal payasam
• Sambaram / Mor 
• Nendran Chips
• pappadam , pickle,curd etc

 Jackfruits are still available in plenty in most places in India and will surely be available for a few weeks more . If you are done with your quota of eating fresh , ripe and juicy jackfruits then I suggest you must make this delicious jackfruit jam /preserve a delicacy from Kerala known as Chakka Varatti or Chakka Varatiyadhu. 

Chakkai in Malayalam means Jackfruit and Varatiyadhu means reduction /simmering process .So basically we make a tasty relish or jam like preserve from jackfruit pulp and jaggery to relish all year long when fresh jackfruits aren't available. 

You can also use fresh ripe jackfruit to make delicious Chakka Pradhaman (Jackfruit Payasam) and Chakka Unniappams . (Fritters) 

I learnt this recipe from Chandra Muthukrishnan aunty, who is an expert in making traditional and complex dishes in a breeze .She guided me  over whatasapp while I was making this and gave a final approval when I shared the video of the finished product . 

Traditionally in olden times, making chakka varatti was a long drawn process and the ladies of the house had to toil a lot to prepare since modern day gadgets like gas stoves, food processors or pressure cookers were not available. 

The jackfruit pods had to be boiled over wooden or charcoal stoves and then using grinding stone the pulp had to me made and then further cooked in huge bronze vessel called Uruli with jaggery and  ghee for hours together to get the perfect taste and texture . Now making chakka varatti is a lot easier and we can prepare it effortlessly at the comfort of our homes .

• Deseed the jackfruit pods and pressure cook it with 1/4 cup water for 2 whistles on medium flame .
• Let the pressure release naturally, strain the excess water and let the jackfruit cool down .
• Blend the cooked jackfruit into a smooth pulpy puree in your blender.
• Measure the pureed jackfruit and take the same quantity of  jaggery powder ..eg if you get 1 cup of puree, using the same cup measure 1 cup of powdered jaggery and 1/2 cup ghee .

• Melt the jaggery in 1/4 cup water and strain it for impurities. 
• In a heavy bottomed pan ,heat the strained jaggery syrup and let it come to a nice bubbling boil .
• At this stage add the jackfruit pulp and mix it nicely till the jaggery and pulp blend in well.
• Keep stirring on low flame and you can see the mixture begins to cook and starts giving out a good aroma . 
• The key is in stirring without a break as there is a chance of the mixture getting burnt easily . 
• The mixture begins to thicken and reduces in quantity after 10 mins,at this stage add some 3 to 4 tbsp of ghee and mix well . The entire ghee gets absorbed by the mixture and you can see a nice glossy look.
• After some time you can see that the entire jam looks glossy and begins to leave the sides of the pan easily and resembles the texture of a jam .
• Now add the balance ghee ,cardamom powder and continue to cook for sometime. When you drop a blob of the chakka varatti using the ladle, it should slide off and fall down easily . This is the correct texture .turn off the stove at this stage and let it cool . The  jam will slightly thicken more after cooling. Donot worry about that. Once cooled, transfer the chakka varatti to a dry container using a dry spoon and refrigerate it. (Check the video below for the consistency)

To have a prolonged shelf life ,never thaw the entire preserve for a long time.  Take out the desired quantity and put it back into the refrigerator.  This way the chakka varatti stays for almost 1 year .