Most people keep the seeds after eating a jackfruit. Washed well, dried and stored, the seeds keep for six months or even a year, and many tasty dishes can be made from them.

Jackfruit seed mash and curries are favourites for many, but the seeds can also be made into a dessert. One such dish is jackfruit seed halwa, whose taste stays with you after a single bite. Here is the recipe.

• Boiled and ground jackfruit seeds: 2 cups
• Sugar: three-quarters of a cup
• Condensed milk: 3 tablespoons
• Milk powder: 4 tablespoons
• Ghee: half a cup
• Zarda food colouring: a little

Remove the white outer skin of the jackfruit seeds and soak them in lukewarm water for 10–15 minutes. Rubbing them on a grinding stone will then remove the red layer. Wash the seeds well and boil them.

Once boiled, grind them finely on the grinding stone so that no grains remain. Add sugar to the paste and cook it on the stove. After a while, add the condensed milk and a little ghee and stir again.

Keep adding a little ghee at intervals. When the halwa has dried considerably with stirring, add the milk powder and stir continuously.

When the halwa has dried and comes away from the sides of the pan, brush a tray with ghee and pour the halwa onto it. Press it down with a spoon to spread it evenly over the tray.

Cut the halwa into the shapes you like while it is still hot, and your jackfruit seed halwa is ready.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.