Polos is the Sinhala name for young green jackfruit, picked long before the flesh turns sweet, and polos curry is one of the most loved vegetable curries on the Sri Lankan rice plate. Once the spiky rind and hard core are cut away, the firm flesh is cut into chunks and cooked slowly with dark roasted curry powder, goraka and coconut milk until the pieces are soft and have soaked up a thick, tangy gravy. Its dense, chewy texture is often compared to meat.
Many Sri Lankan cooks still let it bubble for a long time, since the longer it cooks the deeper the spices go. The version below takes about an hour on the hob and works with fresh or tinned young jackfruit.
How to make Sri Lankan polos curry
- Serves 4
- Prep: 25 minutes
- Cook: 1 hour
- Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients
- 500 g young green jackfruit (polos), peeled, cored and cut into 3 cm chunks, or 2 tins (about 565 g drained) young jackfruit in brine
- 2 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil, plus a little for your hands and knife
- 1 medium red onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2.5 cm piece ginger, chopped
- 2 green chillies, slit lengthways
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 5 cm piece pandan (rampe) leaf
- 5 cm piece cinnamon stick
- 2 tbsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp crushed black pepper
- 3 pieces goraka (Garcinia cambogia), soaked in 3 tbsp hot water and ground to a paste, or 1 tbsp tamarind paste
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- 300 ml thin coconut milk (or 150 ml tinned coconut milk mixed with 150 ml water)
- 200 ml thick coconut milk
Method
- Prepare the jackfruit. Rub oil on your hands and knife, because the fruit gives off a sticky white sap. Cut the jackfruit into wedges, slice off the spiky rind and the hard central core, then cut the rest into 3 cm chunks and drop them into water with a pinch of turmeric. If using tinned jackfruit, drain, rinse well and cut large pieces in half.
- Coat with spices. Drain the jackfruit and put it in a heavy pan or clay pot with the onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies, curry leaves, pandan, cinnamon, curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric, pepper, goraka paste and salt. Mix well with your hand or a spoon so every piece is coated.
- Simmer in thin milk. Pour in the thin coconut milk, bring to the boil over a medium heat, then cover and simmer on a low heat for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until a knife passes easily into the jackfruit. Tinned jackfruit needs only about 15 minutes.
- Add the thick milk. Stir in the thick coconut milk and simmer uncovered on a low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, without boiling hard, until the gravy is thick and clings to the pieces.
- Finish with oil. Heat the oil in a small pan over a medium heat, fry a few extra curry leaves for about 30 seconds until they crackle, then pour the oil and leaves over the curry and stir gently.
- Rest and serve. Taste for salt and sourness, take off the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes so the jackfruit absorbs more of the gravy before serving.
What is the difference between polos and kos?
Both come from the same tree. Polos is the young fruit, small and firm, cooked as a vegetable with its tender seeds and core still soft. Kos is the mature fruit that is still unripe; its bulbs and seeds are separated and cooked, most famously as kiri kos, a pale white jackfruit curry. Once ripe, the golden bulbs are eaten as fruit. Read more on our jackfruit page.
Why roasted curry powder and goraka?
Polos has almost no flavour of its own, so it needs strong seasoning. The dark roasted curry powder used for meat curries gives it colour and a toasty depth, and goraka, a dried fruit rind with a smoky sourness, balances the coconut milk. Tamarind is the usual substitute outside Sri Lanka. Some cooks add a spoonful of Maldive fish flakes for savouriness, though that makes the dish no longer vegetarian.
Can you use tinned jackfruit?
Yes. Look for young or green jackfruit in brine or water, not in syrup, which is ripe fruit. Rinse it well to remove the brine, taste before adding the full teaspoon of salt, and shorten the first simmer to about 15 minutes, as tinned pieces are already cooked.
What do you serve it with?
Polos curry is part of a rice and curry spread: white or red rice, dhal curry, a green leaf mallum and pol sambol, often with a spoon of lunu dehi, the salted lime pickle. It also goes well with string hoppers and bread. You will find it at rice-and-curry eateries across the island, from Colombo to hill-country towns such as Ella.
Other ways to cook polos
- Polos ambula. A sourer style with extra goraka (ambula means sour), cooked long and slow in coconut milk.
- White polos curry. Made without roasted curry powder, with unroasted spices and more coconut milk for a pale, mild curry.
- Polos thel dala. Boiled pieces stir-fried in oil with onion, chilli flakes and curry leaves.
How do you store it?
Cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days; like many long-cooked curries it tastes even better the next day. Reheat gently with a splash of water until piping hot.
Related reading
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