Jackfruit Sausages

The worlds largest fruit and one of the best ‘meat’ substitutes on the market… I’m told it has the texture of chicken, duck or pulled pork. Jackfruit vegan meat has been growing in popularity for a few years now. You should easily find a can/pack in a local supermarket or health store near you.

If, like us, you are blessed with a Jackfruit Tree in your garden then for for the months running up to monsoon… it is Jackfruit Season!

When our Jackfruit Tree bears fruit, its gifts are bountiful, with each fruit on average 50 cm long and 30 cm wide! When green or unripe, almost all of the jackfruit can be eaten and they are perfect for savoury dishes like these homemade vegan sausages.

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Inside the fruit, beneath the thick spiky green skin is:

• The Flesh: a spongy ‘meaty’ layer that turns into…
• The Rags: stringy flesh that extends down between the…
• Seed Pods: yellow crunchy casings around the…
• Seeds: Big bulbous nutritious seeds

The skin and the core are the only things that are not edible, everything else of a green jackfruit can be eaten.

The locals here in Goa, typically ONLY eat the seed pods and seeds. They slice these, put them all in a big pot together and boil them with coconut and spices. It is very good… check out our friend Sujay’s Goan Jackfruit Curry Recipe.

The seed pods and seeds are the most nutritious parts of the fruit but the flesh and rags (which are often thrown away) are very nutritious too, and especially good as a ‘meat’ substitute.

This Vegan Jackfruit Sausages recipe uses the flesh and rags… so it is perfectly suited for both fresh green jackfruit and shop bought package jackfruit.

If using FRESH jackfruit… its best to lightly boil the rags (and flesh) for 5-10 minutes to lightly cook them and reduce the stickiness from the sap. Jackfruits have VERY, VERY sticky sap! Very being and understatement.

If using CANNED or PROCESSED Jackfruit… Drain and rinse the jackfruit first, set aside to drip dry a little before you use it.

Discover more about the Amazing Jackfruit in my ‘For the Love of Jackfruit‘ post.

 Jackfruit Sausages Recipe 

Perfect for Fresh or Canned Jackfruit

Ingredients:

The quantity you need of each ingredients can vary depending on how large they are, how wet they are, etc… its about consistency of the mixture so you should use the measures below as a guide only.

• 1 large Onion – chopped
• 1 Bulb Garlic – chopped & salted
• 125g Mushrooms – washed & chopped
• 3 tsp Dried Rosemary (Try different Herbs like Basil, Thyme)
• 2 tsp Coriander Seeds
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/3 Cup Sundried Tomatoes (Optional) – chopped
• Salt & Pepper (to your taste)
• 2 Cups of Jackfruit Rags (or mixed Rags and Flesh) – part cooked
• 1.5 Cups Wholewheat Flour (or any blend you prefer. I often use an Oat and Rice blend but REMEMBER flours with less Gluten may need more Flax or other binder to help bind the ingredients together).
• 1/3 Cup Flax – Ground
• Cooking Oil – I use Olive Oil on a low heat

Methodology: Making Your Jackfruit Sausages

1. If using FRESH jackfruit it is best to partially cook/boil them first for 5-10 mins. If using canned these will already be partially cooked but you may need to drain and squeeze some of the excess water out.
2. Chop the garlic and add a little salt to start breaking down the garlic cell walls… Set aside.
3. Chop the onion and lightly fry until translucent. Add garlic toward the end.
4. Chop the mushrooms and add to the onion mix and allow to ‘sweat’ over a low heat.
5. Add the herbs, Rosemary, Coriander Seeds, Powdered Garlic, Salt, Pepper, Sundried Tomatoes (optional) to the onion mix, stir and remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
6. While You wait for the Sauce to COOL, chop the jackfruit into smaller pieces. Kitchen scissors are great for this. Put them all into a BIG mixing bowl.
7. ONCE COOLED, take the Onion and Mushroom Mix and add to a Blender. Blend into a paste. If you don’t have a Blender, just mash the ingredients a bit with the back of a fork… the sausages will be a bit more rustic but still super yummy.
8. Add the Blended (or unblended) Onion and Mushroom Mix to your jackfruit pieces in the Mixing Bowl. Mix them all together.
9. Then ADD the ground Flax and 1 Cup of Flour (ONLY 1 Cup Flour to start with)… Mix it all together, adding more flour to reach the right consistency.
10. THE RIGHT CONSISTENCY: Your mixture wants to stick well together but be rollable in your hands without leaving LOADS of goop on them… some goop is to be expected! It helps if you flour your hands first. If your mixture is too dry, add a little water… to wet, add a little flour.
    
11. When you have a good, mouldable mixture, roll them into sausage shapes… cylinders about 10cm long, 2.5cm wide.
12. Add a GOOD SPLASH of oil into your frying pan, with more available as you may need to top it up as you fry. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to fry about 6 sausages at a time. Make sure there is room to move them about in the pan. It’s best to roll the sausages back and forth as they fry… or keep turning them to get an even cooking.
13. If you have used a flour with less gluten, then your sausages may become flaky at this stage… just carefully turn them. They may look less visually appealing but they’ll still taste good!
14. Done, Jackfruit Sausages made. Enjoy and let us know how they taste.

Try Organic Young Jackfruit

For those of you in the UK with no access to these AMAZING Jack Trees, we have organic jackfruit chunks in brine water ready to be delivered direct to your door.

Jackfruit Chunks – 250g