“Ponsa Varai Godu Muddo (Ripe Jackfruit Indian Barnyard Millet Sweet Idly)” … ponsa muddo is a traditional Konkani Saraswat dish prepared when ripe jackfruit is in season … today being Ekadashi- No-onion- garlic- rice day … I prepared the same using varai in place of rice as that can be consumed during upvas/ fasting … turned out soft, delicious and very aromatic … tastes great served with fresh homemade loni/ butter … Yummilicious …
** Jackfruit dishes always fills the home with an awesome aroma when being steamed and starts tickling your taste buds. Ponsa muddo as I mentioned earlier is a traditiona Konkani Sarawat Dish usually prepared either with rice or rava. This is the first time I am preparing it with addition of millet for a change as I love experimenting and I also really want to try out more options with adding on millets into diet at the same time keeping it within our own pattern of eating habits as deviating completely from what one grew up eating is in my opinion not only unhealthy but will not be accepted by the body too.
** I prepared these delicious aromatic sweet jackfruit Idlies with Varai for a change. Varai is a millet also known as Indian Barnyard Millet, Sama ke Chawal, Samo, Bhagar, Moraiyo in a few other languages. In konkani we call it Varai and is extensively used in Konkani Saraswat Cuisine during upvas/ fasting day as these are allowed for consumption while fasting. Today being Ekadash the day we avoid having non.veg dishes and so also any dish prepared using onion, garlic, rice or rice ingredients I just thought of preparing it with varai and I must say it turned out spongy and delicious truly beyond my expectations.
** Here is the method of preparing “Ponsa Varai Godu Muddo (Ripe Jackfruit Indian Barnyard Millet Sweet Idly)” … this is my own concocted recipe ... do try it out if you love having millets, they turn out soft, spongy and very tasty …
** Clean wash well and add 2 cups of Varai/ Indian Barnyard Millet and soak in plenty of water for minimum 6 hours. You can also soak it late in the night and let it soak overnight too like how I do which soaks it for about 7 hours, choose any way suitable to you.
** Clean, remove the center seed of the ripe Jackfruit bulbs and keep it aside, you can use it for curries and then chop the flesh portion of the jackfruit into fine pieces. You should have about 3 cups of chopped pieces in all. Keep it prepared and ready aside.
** Heat half a cup of water and add about 2 cups of jaggery cut into pieces and melt it. Remove and let cool, strain and keep aside or you can grate the jaggery and add on directly while grinding too, which is what I do as we get clean jaggery in Mumbai.
** Drain the soaked Varai/ Indian Barnyard Millet, wash once again well and drain off excess water as much as possible. Leave it aside in a fine sieve colander to drain off the water well for about 20 minutes. It is necessary to drain off water well, keep this ready.
** To be ground : Grind to a fine paste 1 cup of jackfruit pieces with 1 cup of freshly grated coconut/ soyi to a fine paste with either prepared jaggery water or the grated jaggery. The said amount of jaggery should be consumed whichever way you prepare.
** Then add in the drained and kept aside varai to the above mixture in grinder and further grind without adding water for just a few minutes. Do not make fine paste, but keep it coarser textured like rava mixture. You can use pulse method a few times mixing in between.
**Add the ground mixture into a wide bowl and add remaining 2 cups of jackfruit pieces to the ground mixture keeping aside some and mix well with a pinch of salt to taste. You can add a pinch of cardamom powder too. I have not added any as I like the jackfruit flavor intact.
** In a small pan add ½ a tsp of ghee and heat, when hot add about ½ cup of cashew nut pieces and fry till lightly browned evenly. Remove and keep it aside and keep the Pedavana/ Idly steamer to boil with required amount of water while we prepare the
** Grease the required number of Idly vaties/ molds from within with a thin layer of melted ghee. Add in a few fried cashew nut in each of the molds along with a few finely chopped ripe jackfruit pieces kept aside. They should be placed as a layer on the bottom.
** Note : Applying either oil in case of normal Idlies or ghee in case sweet idly to molds is necessary as it ensures that the batter does not stick to the sides and comes off cleanly without crumbling once the Idly is steamed.
** Finally add in ½ tsp of cooking soda to jackfruit batter and mix well. Now add it into the prepared and kept Idly molds gently upto ¾ level taking care to see that the cashew nut and jackfruit pieces remain intact without moving, so add slowly and carefully.
** By now the water in steamer will have reached boiling level, open lid and place the filled molds in layers with separators depending upon the number of idlies prepared. Cover with the lid and let cook on high for 5 minutes or till you see steam escaping from the side of the lid.
** Now lower the heat and cook for another 15-20 minutes or till done, they do not take more than 25 minutes in all, so do not overcook or Idlies will turn hard. Remove and let get cooled down a little bit which is necessary for proper removal of the Idlies.
** When cooled, run a blunt knife through the edges on the inner side of molds and gently flip over the idly in one go and trust me they come out beautifully without crumbling. Remove all in similar pattern and put it into a tray or bowl or any other serving dish.
** If there is remaining mixture batter, prepare a second round of Idlies following the same pattern as mentioned above until all is done. You can reuse the same molds for preparing the Idlies and there is no need to grease them with ghee again.
** “Ponsa Varai Godu Muddo (Ripe Jackfruit Indian Barnyard Millet Sweet Idly)” is done and ready to be served. Always serve topped with melted ghee/ toop or fresh homemade loni/ butter and enjoy them with your family and friends, I am sure it will be loved by all.
** This is a snack usually served in olden days for evening tea when children came home hungry though you can serve it for morning breakfast too, if sweet dishes are liked in the morning. Do try this out, children are sure to love it and addition of millets makes it healthier.
** You can check out through the common link shared below for more ponsa/ ripe jackfruit muddo/ Idly dishes.
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