: The jackfruit festival, organised by the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) on the Pookode lakeshore, has on offer close to 100 varieties of dishes.
The three-day festival, organised in association with Uravu Bamboo Village and Vythiri grama panchayat, also gives an opportunity to farmer-entrepreneurs to tap the commercial potential of the fruit.
The bamboo village has on offer at least 100 jackfruit dishes, including jackfruit biriyani, fried rice , samosa,wine, halwa, puffs, cutlet, cake, jam, squash, idli, jelly, toffee, sweets, pappad, and pickles, beside the traditional preparations such as payasam and chips .
'We have trained 25 select members of five Kudumbasree units in Vythiri grama panchayat in making value-added products as part of tapping the potential of the fruit, said M. Baburaj, president, Uravu Bamboo Village .
“There is a good response from the people, including tourists, and we are planning to set up a sales counter on the lakeshore to sell value-added products, said N. Aysha, secretary, Varnam, a Kudumbasree unit at Vythiri.
The Krishi Vijnan Kendra at Ambalavayal under the Kerala Agricultural University has offered eight varieties of dishes developed by the Home Science Department of the institution.
The event will conclude on Sunday.
