This fruit is mostly loved by Mangaloreans.

This fruit is mostly loved by Mangaloreans.

As a child, I used to go on family trips, I remember seeing trees of wild jack alongside the road. Whenever we would stop for breaks, we would pick up stones and aim at these little fruits. And relish the fresh and tangy fruit.

Pachponos aka Hebbalasu aka Wild jack aka Jungle jack (Artocarpus Hirsutus) are a kind of fruit found in the western Ghat region.

Pachponos will fit in your hand, it’s about that size. The exterior round, elliptic, it’s white to yellow to orange in colour & is prickly, thorny and inside is sticky and small fleshy fruits with many seeds like that of Jackfruit. The inside fruit is orange, it’s tangy,sweet and has a fragrance of its own. The Raw ones are pickled with sauce and made into chutneys throughout the year.

This summer go wild with the wild jack.

Article by Lakshmi Shenoy.