Jack of All Fruits! ‘Halasu Habba’ unleashes the Goodness of Jack Fruit
Mangaluru: While many citizens were still in bed being a lazy Sunday, but on the other hand, a large number of Mangaloreans who had woke up early on this beautiful mild sunny weather Sunday, thronged the Balam Bhat Hall, near Sharavu Temple on V T Road, Mangaluru for the “Halasu Habba/Jack Fruit Festival” on 15 July 2018, which started from 7 am till 5 pm, organized by Savayava Krishika Grahakara Balaga-Mangaluru. Apart from various kinds of Jack Fruit, including the rare ‘Chandra Halasu’ and ‘Surya Halasu’, the festival also featured other home-grown vegetables, home-made snacks and varieties of Pickle. Even food lovers had a chance to savour some freshly prepared food items made out of Jack Fruit like Jack Fruit Seed Payasam, Jack Fruit Manchurian, Jack Fruit Fritters, Jack Fruit Dosa and many more.
‘Santhani,’ (dried, salted jackfruit seed), ‘Uppad Pacchir,’ (Jack fruit pieces preserved in salt), preserved wild jack fruit, fig fruit and other traditional items were in great demand at one booth. “These products are difficult to get for people in cities. We had a good demand for these traditional items. In particular, those who are settled in Mumbai and other distant places demand these items, and I have already sold a lot of these items within an hour this morning” said Prabhu, the stall owner. There was also Jack Fruit Pappad, Halwa, Mambalam, Chips, Jack fruit seed, jack fruit pieces and beratti (used for Payasam). The item most in demand was Jack fruit Halwa.
‘Rudraskhi halasu’ was also a major attraction along with local ‘barika’ and ‘tuluva’ varieties. Value-added products of jack fruit like ‘garige’, ‘jelli’, chips, ‘payasam’, ‘santani’, ‘sukkeli’, jack fruit in brine were also sold at the Fest. Also featured were varieties of products made from jack fruit seed like ‘chutni pudi’, ‘Jaffi’ ‘halwa’, Payasam and soup. Jack Fruit saplings were also for sale ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 350 a plant. Various plant crafts demonstration was carried on by Ankoor Nursery {Ananth Javali} Rippan Pet and Gururaja Balthilaya Athrady, including sale also. Ganapathi Bhat and Marike Suhas sold home-made delicious Jack Fruit Ice Creams. Yummy- and I was lucky to have two scoops for free!
Yes, that yellowish golden hue, that perfect size fitting into your palm, and its smell, uffff! Just heaven. Why can’t they be available round the year? Or is it because it is available only during the season that makes it so special?! Whatever it is, I have realized that Jack Fruit is indeed the Jack of all Fruits, with so many items that could be prepared out of it. And that Pink colored ‘Surya Halasu’ and yellowish ‘Chandra Halasu’ pieces, sold for Rs 50 a dozen- I could not resist in buying two dozens each of both kinds- and they were simply sweet and delicious- quite different taste from the other Jack Fruits.
As I walked down the hall, stalls of Jack fruit were now calling me! Jack fruit was the most surprising find in this Halasu Habba. All these years, I knew only one kind of Jack fruit. It has a yellow pulp and that is it! But in this Habba I saw nearly three to four variants. And there was this deep orangish red pulp Jack fruit called Chandra halasu, it was too yummy and different to look. So what did I do? Pack it!! Then there was the yellowish one called Surya Halasu. They were so juicy and yum, so what did I do? Pack it!! I was now uncontrollably running between stalls, tasting different kinds of jack fruit, and items made out of it, not able to deny the friendly stall owners handing out pieces of the fruit to you, not able to walk away without buying them. The good part with Jack fruit was they were being cut and the slices were sold in dozens. Prices varied from Rs.40 to Rs.50 depending on the variety. In the one hour I spent at the Habba, I shelled out Rs 400 on Jack Fruit items, and the best part was that I also got a few freebies too!
And while I am drafting this article, simultaneously I am also enjoying the Jack Fruit Seed payasam, which is so yummy. This being the third Halasu Habba/Jack Fruit Festival organized by the above said Balaga, and if they plan to organize one more such Habba, I’ll surely not miss it. No doubt it was a perfect “Weekend Jack Fruit Sunday?”.