SpiceLines

This fragrant spice paste is a blend of red shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric and
coriander.

When is a recipe no longer the recipe?

This question came up a few days ago when I received a tantalizing receipt for jackfruit curry, a Balinese dish which sent our Singapore correspondent into culinary nirvana (see our last post) during lunch at the Amandari, an Amanresort in Ubud overlooking the Ayung River Gorge.
The recipe, sent by the Amandari’s Australian chef, Gary Tyson, poses a distinct challenge to stateside cooks in small Southern towns. Besides the tropical jackfruit, it calls for candlenuts, fresh turmeric root and fern tips, ingredients not exactly on the usual American shopping list. Still, I love nothing better than trawling through our excellent local Asian markets in search of exotic fare. After a day of scouting, though, I had to face up to the issue of substitutes.

First, there is the jackfruit problem. Oblong, green-skinned and covered with spikes, it is the largest fruit that grows on trees—it can weigh as much 90 pounds. Although common in tropical Asia and parts of Africa, fresh jackfruit is hard to come by here except, on occasion, in big city markets. Most Asian food stores carry canned jackfruit, but that seemed to miss the point of the recipe.

About this time, I had a sudden vision of a jackfruit the size of a small pig—I had seen it at Whole Foods several weeks earlier. I phoned in a special order, but the produce manager wouldn’t make any promises. Next I contacted Melissa’s Produce, where I was told that fresh jackfruit is currently hard to get and that lately it has been “all black inside. That means it was frozen.”

What to do? Tyson’s recipe actually calls for young jackfruit. “It does not have that much flavor but is a great vehicle to carry spices,” he explains. “If I could match it to flavour and texture, I would say that it is very similar to artichoke.” And in fact, Tyson suggests substituting fresh artichoke hearts for the jackfruit. “Young papaya would be good as well.”

As it happened, Grand Asia, a nearby Asian hypermarket, had piles of green papayas for making spicy Vietnamese green papaya salad. When I cut one open, the pale green flesh was just barely sweet and the texture was crisp—a good substitute, I thought, for young jackfruit, although in the end, it required a longer cooking time—35 minutes instead of the 20 minutes chef Tyson specified for jackfruit.

Green papaya, sauteed in the spice paste, is then simmered in coconut milk with
lemongrass, lime leaf, cinnamon and cardamom pods.

I had to make other substitutions and even left out a couple of ingredients:

1. Candlenuts: I used unsalted macadamia nuts in place of these oily, cream-colored nuts. Cashews are also an acceptable substitute. (See The Food Of Bali, Periplus Editions, 1995, p. 32.)

2. Turmeric root: This knobby rhizome of the ginger family is bright yellow-orange when cut open and has “a very emphatic flavor.” (Again, The Food of Bali, p. 33) I used very fresh powdered turmeric instead.

3. Fern tips and red beans: I left both out. By this time, I had run out of steam and they were basically a garnish.

4. As for other ingredients, fresh ginger, lemon grass, whole cardamom pods, and canned coconut milk can be found at most supermarkets and at Asian food shops. Lime leaves and long beans are also available at Asian markets. The fresher and brighter- tasting your spices, the more delicious the curry will be.

In the end, the turmeric-laced curry had a lovely pale golden hue. The papaya served admirably to convey the flavors of cinnamon, cardamom, lemon grass and lime leaf, all of which subtly perfumed the coconut milk. And I liked the crunch of the just cooked broccoli, cauliflower and carrots that were added right at the end.

Although Balinese spice pastes tend to be aggressively seasoned with fiery chilies, this recipe leaves them out, perhaps as a concession to western palates. If you, like I, crave the bite of the pepper, add a few bird’s-eye or Thai chilies when you make the paste.

How far can you go with substitutions and still keep some semblance of the original dish? Fortunately in this recipe, you can get pretty close.

The papaya curry is finished with carrots, long beans, broccoli and cauliflower
florets.

Young Jackfruit (or Papaya) Curry with Lime Leaf and Cardamom

(adapted from Gary Tyson, chef at the Amandari, Bali, Indonesia)

Ingredients for the spice paste:

1/2 cup red shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
2-1/2 tablespoons garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup candlenuts, or unsalted macadamia nuts
2 tablespoons fresh turmeric root, peeled and roughly chopped, or 2 teaspoons powdered turmeric
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 or more Thai or bird’s-eye chilies, to taste (optional)

2 tablespoons canola oil

Other ingredients for the curry:

1-1/2 pounds young jackfruit or green papaya, peeled and cubed (see note)

3 stalks lemongrass, trimmed to 5-inch-lengths, tough outer leaves removed, bruised in a mortar and pestle
6 lime leaves, fresh or frozen, torn
4 cinnamon sticks, about 3 inches long each, snapped in half
8 whole green cardamom pods
2-2/3 cups canned coconut milk, well-shaken (see note)
Salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients to finish:

1 cup carrots, diagonally sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup long beans, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup fern tips (optional)
1/2 cup red beans, soaked and cooked (optional)

Method:

1. In a mortar and pestle or in a food processor, make a paste of the shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric, macadamia nuts, coriander—and chilies if you are using them. The paste should be very smooth, with just a little roughness. (If you use the mortar and pestle this will take about 10 minutes, but it is well worth it for the lovely fragrance that envelops you.)
2. In a large, deep saucepan or dutch oven, heat the oil over a medium flame. Add the spice paste and gently sauté for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cubed jackfruit or green papaya and stir to coat in the spice paste. Saute 5 minutes longer.
3. Add the coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, lemon grass, and lime leaves. Wrap the cardamom pods in a small piece of cheesecloth, crush lightly and add to the curry. Bring to a boil for just a moment (or the coconut milk may curdle) and lower the heat to medium low. Simmer for 20 to 35 minutes, or until the fruit is tender. (Note: Green papaya may cook unevenly, so be sure to test several pieces.)
4. When the fruit is almost done, add the carrots, long beans, cauliflower, broccoli, and fern tips and red beans if using. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes more.
5. Remove the whole spices from the curry.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve at once with steamed jasmine rise.

Note: Look for fresh jackfruit, green papaya and Chaokoh brand coconut milk in Asian markets. You can find all the other ingredients in this recipe at supermarkets and Asian food shops.