VIEWING A ചക്ക THROUGH MY PINK GLASSES
Jackfruit or ചക്ക (chakka) (as it is colloquially known)is a seasonal fruit found in the back yard of kerala households. It is borne on പ്ലാവ് - പിലാവ് as it is fondly called in my locality. J.F.(this makes it sound a lot cooler than it actually is!) exists in two varieties – കൂഴ (koozha) and വരിക്ക (varikka). I am definitely not interested to stuff this blog with a gush of scientific details. For, that would require merely an addition of a link to WIKI.I must say that I am highly surprised to find out that the name jackfruit has been derived from the word ചക്ക.
Here I wish to introduce ചക്ക in my perspective. When the idea of blogging hit my mind numb with boredom, I frantically started searching for a subject. It found its place in my daily schedule of doing absolutely nothing. I had that thought processing in my mind almost always; while brushing my teeth, cleaning the dishes, settling somewhere(mostly the TV) with a plate of ചക്കഉപ്പേരി.........yes; that’s it. I could blog about ചക്ക. After all like some faraway cousin coming to stay every vacation, Mr.J.F. happens to be an active member of my house every vacation. Each morning I wake up hearing the ado accompanying ചക്ക preparation – in which all my family members (well almost all) take part. I personally think that grappling with its gum - അരക്ക് requires a great deal of deftness and is really a Herculian task. Copious amount of kerosene is the only remedy for lumps of stubborn അരക്ക് .I really wonder why is it not commercially applied for adhesive purposes. At lunch we have ചക്കവേവിച്ചത് with fish curry or pickle as side dish. For tea – ചക്കഉപ്പേരി is the main (read only)snack and our dinner table is adorned with a variety of ചക്ക dishes especially ചക്കക്കുരുമെഴുക്കുപെരട്ടി. And a plate of ripe ചക്കച്ചുള seems to attract as many hands and fruitflies as possible.
Keeping aside the culinary aspects of ചക്ക, I think ചക്ക is a communal fruit. Because, the entire process of ചക്ക preparation involves participation of neighbours, at different levels. When a family decides to pluck (I haven’t found the right word yet) a ചക്ക , they beckon a few strongly built neighbours to bring it to the arena. The whole ചക്ക which weighs almost 15-25kg(on an average) is divided among the neighbours. Then the nonedible remains of ചക്ക or ചക്കമടല് are fetched by neighbours owning cattle. (how does growing a cow = പശൂനെ വളര്ത്തുക sound?) A doubt which can creep up at this instance, quite naturally, is if ചക്ക is the sole main dish 24*7*3 in our area? – probably yes though different range of fish(that is to say - മത്തി , അയല, ചൂട etc)curries add to the variety.
I should confess that the constant appearance of ചക്ക on our dining table under various disguises makes me not-so-enthusiastic about it. And not to forget the horrible pangs of gas it gifts you.
As a peroration let me include in this blog the recipe of ചക്കക്കുരുമെഴുക്കുപെരട്ടി. Or on second thoughts it is better to retire.
