A Goa-based entrepreneur’s food startup replaces meat with a fruit/vegetable, giving the much-maligned jackfruit its culinary due
Sairaj Dhond
Two years ago, British newspaper The Guardian found itself in the middle of a controversy, because of a particularly harsh and offensive article about a tropical fruit: the jackfruit. “A spectacularly ugly, smelly, unfarmed, unharvested pest-plant native to India,” is how the article described it. Indians were outraged at the piece titled, ‘Jackfruit is a vegan sensation, could I make it taste delicious at home?’ If you ask Sairaj Dhond, founder and CEO of Wakao Foods, he’d say a quick, yes, to that question.
The startup offers ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat options including burger patties and jackfruit teriyaki
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Jackfruit or kathal is intrinsic to the culture and food in many parts of India. Goa-based Dhond is a lawyer by education and entrepreneur by passion. He runs the sustainable food brand that offers handpicked natural food products that he says are healthy, tasty and cruelty-free. His latest offering is jack meat. Incidentally, the fruit is grown in his own backyard. One of the reasons for focusing on jackfruit meat, he says, is because it’s relatively lesser known among the multiple meat substitutes available commercially, whether mushroom, soya chunks or cottage cheese. “During the pandemic, I witnessed a lot of people looking for a change in diet. So, while the world was under lockdown, we were busy with research to launch the vegan meat.” His job was made simpler given that the fruit is immensely versatile. “It is high in fibre content and has a unique texture that makes it come apart in a fashion similar to pulled chicken when cooked. It also ranks among the world’s top superfoods, making for a guilt-free, vegan and gluten-free alternative to meat with restricted use of GMOs.”
Jackfruit is typically used to mimic pulled meat and goes well with tacos
Dhond’s range includes ready-to-cook varieties such as teriyaki jack, which can be paired with a slider or stuffed inside a frankie; the BBQ jack is a hearty filling for wraps, and the jack burger patty lends itself to meatball or fishcake-like dishes (all priced at Rs 300 onwards). The butter jack can be used for a quick meal along with a side of steamed rice. They also offer raw jack meat.
The unripe pod has a fairly neutral taste and takes on the flavour of the spices you’re using. Here, Dhond has used it in Xacuti
Currently, Dhond’s products are available online-wakaofoods.com -and across select supermarkets in Mumbai. He says one of the challenges in launching a business such as this during the pandemic was having to travel and conduct physical meetings in jackfruit-growing regions. “I had to visit remote villages in Kerala and Goa to set up our raw material procurement and supply chain. It was exciting nonetheless.” Dhond believes the mock meat market in India, although nascent, is a segment waiting to explode. “The demand for sustainable food and veganism is rising every day. With the pandemic, people are ready to explore and understand alternative meat and its benefits.”
His next challenge is to get restaurants to embrace jackfruit.
Raw jackfruit meat Shikampuri kebabs
Ingredients
Part cooked/boiled and shredded 1 cup of young jackfruit
1 tbsp chana dal/split bengal gram
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp amchoor
5-6 whole peppercorns
Salt to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves
1 finely chopped green chillies
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp coconut yogurt
Method
Blitz the jackfruit, chana dal, ginger, garlic, cumin powder, coriander power, garam masala, amchoor, peppercorns and salt for 5 seconds for ingredients to mix and become a smooth paste.
Add coriander leaves, green chillies and onion and put the mix away in the fridge for an hour.
Shape the kebab mix into flat round cutlets, spoon in a small dollop of coconut yogurt and shape into balls before flattening them into Shikampuri kebab.
Let these sit in the freezer again for another hour.
Shallow fry them to a perfect char on a flat pan.
Serve with spicy coriander mint chutney, raw onion rings and lemon.
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