Jackfruit Yogurt Panna Cotta with Blueberry Coulis

Do you think the name is a little too long? I actually wanted to call this post Cardamom infused Jackfruit Yogurt Panna Cotta with Blueberry Coulis and Jackfruit Puree… but it looked just a tad too long. I like naming my posts with the names of the major ingredients, since that improves the search engine visibility. Yes, it is fun to come up with clever names for a dish, I could’ve called this dish Jackotta, but until I get my own cooking show and make Jackotta a household name, nobody is going to type in Jackotta in a search box, are they? Coming to think of it, I don’t think anyone is going to search for Jackfruit Panna Cotta either, hmm….

When I heard that Jackfruit is the JFI ingredient for this month, like any true mallu I was all excited! But then I realized I just like to eat the fruit as such, in fact that is what happened to the first few cans of jackfruit I bought! Those never saw the light of the day, I mean heat of the stove… None of my cookbooks had any exciting jackfruit recipes. Poor confused me waited and waited till the last minute, and realized last night with a panic that the deadline is almost here. So I raided the fridge, and all I could find were cream, yogurt and blueberries. I remembered the expression When in doubta, Make Panna cotta (okay, I just made it up) and came up with this recipe.  The basic panna cotta recipe is adapted from a Pandan Infused Mango Yogurt Panna Cotta recipe from the cookbook New Asian Cuisine – Fabulous Recipes from Celebrity Chefs.

I had no idea how this was going to taste, my hope was that it would at least look good. But surprisingly the experiment turned out to be a success! The refreshingly light and creamy taste of the yogurt was dressed up with the distinct jackfruit flavor and the mild spices from the cardamom pods. The jackfruit flavor wasn’t too overpowering, but nevertheless quite distinct.  The main reason to make the blueberry Coulis was to dress up the Panna cotta, yellow and purple go so well together. But surprisingly the acidic sweetness of the blueberries went nicely with the just so slightly sweet panna cotta. I was very happy with the way this whole thing turned out, a definite keeper, an unexpected hit!

Jackfruit Puree

Ingredients

• 1 20 oz can ripe jackfruit in syrup
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup water

Method

Drain the jackfruit from syrup and cut into small pieces.

In a small pan, cook the jackfruit pieces along with sugar and water till the jackfruit pieces are soft and the water is almost gone.

Transfer the mixture to a blender and process to make a smooth paste.

Blueberry Coulis

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup blueberries
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Method

Blend all the ingredients in a blender till smooth. (Pass through a fine sieve to remove the pulp and seeds if you like). Chill before serving.

Panna Cotta

Ingredients

• 4 oz jackfruit puree (see recipe above)
• 8 oz heavy cream
• 6 oz non fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 10 cardamom pods
• 2 drops vanilla essence
• 1 tbsp unflavored gelatin

Method

Sprinkle gelatin over 3 tbsp water and let it stand for a few minutes without stirring. This will soften the gelatin.

In a saucepan, add cream and cardamom and bring to a boil on medium heat. Add the vanilla essence and simmer for about 10-15 minutes on low heat.

Remove from heat and strain to remove the cardamom pods. Add the softened gelatin to the cream and mix well till the gelatin is completely dissolved.

In the meantime, combine the yogurt, jackfruit puree and sugar in a cup and whisk well to form a smooth mixture.

Pass the jackfruit-yogurt mixture through a fine sieve into the cream (to remove any pieces of jackfruit which escaped the blender blade). Whisk well to combine.

Pour into ramekins or dessert molds (this should make about six servings). Chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours or till set.

Serve with blueberry Coulis and the rest of the jackfruit puree. Garnish with fresh blueberries and jackfruit pieces.

If you are not a jackfruit fan, you can use the same recipe with mango puree instead. Also check out my orange Panna cotta recipe for a more mainstream Panna cotta.

This is my entry for JFI – Jackfruit hosted by the amusing couple Jai and Bee of Jugalbandi. JFI stands for Jihva for Ingredients and is the brainchild of Indira of Mahanandi.  If you don’t know what a jackfruit looks like, check out this post to see the anatomy of a jackfruit.

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Category: Berries, Desserts, Diary, Jackfruit, Misc, Recipes