Rosie Maria, an avid non-vegetarian, could not believe that the kabab she was eating is made of jackfruit. “You have saved a chicken,” she told Muralidhar Prabhu from Vagga near Bantwal, who prepared it.
Mr. Prabhu, a farmer, had made dishes such as jackfruit pepper and jackfruit Manchurian too. “A good number of vegetarians savoured them during the Vasanta Mela at Pilikula after making sure that they were not non-vegetarian dishes,” he said.
Mr. Prabhu, who represented Halasu Preemi Koota, was one among those who set up stalls at the two-day jackfruit mela that began on the Fisheries College campus on Saturday.
The stall by software professional-turned-agriculturist Vasant Kaje from Vagga near Bantwal was different. He was seen selling a cup of ice cream made of jackfruit at Rs. 25. While distributing it in a cup made of arecanut leaves, he was giving away the recipe too.
Shankar Prabhu from Karkala had brought mouth-watering dishes including sweets such as cakes and shira each priced at Rs. 10. He was also serving “podi” and paapad. A.P. Sadashiva, an agriculturist from Puttur, was selling chakkuli, burfi and wild mango juice. There were also stalls selling jams, different types of chips and jackfruit leather, a sweet. People were also allowed to taste different types jackfruit and take home saplings.
The mela was inaugurated by Nalin Kumar Kateel, MP.
