Banbukeyo Hithi ( Breadfruit Curry)

For ages, I kept meaning to try one of the Hithi recipes. Hithi means bitter but this is not a bitter curry. It is called hithi because it uses a spice known locally as hithi damui. My mum kept saying it was difficult getting hithi damui you can only get it from the local ayurvedic stalls until my sister discovered after seeing the spice that it was in fact ajwain/ carom seeds.
I have seen Ajwain seeds in a local shop and also in some of the Indian speciality shops. Ajwain seeds although it looks a lot like tiny cumin seeds has a slightly different taste. There are two kinds of hithi, one is this banbukeyo ( breadfruit) hithi and the other is maalhoskeyo hithi( plaintain).

Recipe : Banbukeyo Hithi

Serves 4 -6

1/4 piece of a regular-size banbukeyo (about 250g), (breadfruit)
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1/2 inch ginger grated
10 curry leaves
small piece of pandan leaf
1/4 tsp turmeric
100g smoked tuna
1 small onion thinly sliced
1/2 tsp ajwain or hithi damui
150 ml coconut milk
700 ml water
some dried red chillies
some oil to fry the chillies

Cut the breadfruit into small pieces.  Place in a suitable pan ( I used a small about 6-8 cups size one) with just enough water to cover it, about 500ml, and add a pinch of salt.

 Let the water boil and then simmer till the breadfruit is just starting to go tender. Now add the coconut milk and another 200ml  of water.

Add in the grated ginger and garlic, turmeric, curry leaves and pandan leaf smoked tuna, and the remaining 200 ml water and 50 ml coconut milk. Then let the mixture simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes.

While that's happening grind the onion along with the ajwain seeds and add this to the remaining coconut milk (100ml). Cover and set aside.

Check the breadfruit if it's cooked, add salt to taste and carefully stir in the prepared thick coconut and onion mixture. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Switch off.

To Serve,  Heat some oil in a small frying pan, just enough oil to cover the bottom of the frying pan. Once it's hot, add the dried chillies ( whole) and fry them for 1-2 minutes. Remove to a bowl with a bit of the oil. Serve the chillies along the curry with plain rice or even roshi.