Jackfruit reached American attention as a meat substitute, which describes what it looks like rather than what it does. In Indian cooking it has been used for a long time as a starchy vegetable with unusual structure.
Ripeness decides which ingredient you have
Unripe jackfruit is starchy, firm and almost neutral. Ripe jackfruit is sweet, soft and strongly aromatic, and the two are used in completely separate dishes.
Savory preparations use the unripe fruit exclusively. Anything approaching ripeness brings sugars and perfume that fight with spice rather than supporting it.
Cans sold in US supermarkets are labeled young or green for the savory version and in syrup for the sweet one, and the two are not interchangeable in any recipe.
The fiber structure is what makes it distinctive
The flesh is arranged in bundles of long fibers held together by starchy tissue. Cooking softens the binding tissue while the fibers stay intact.
Pressed with a spoon, the flesh separates into strands rather than collapsing into a puree, which is the property that gets described as meat-like.
That structure also holds gravy inside itself rather than sitting in it, so a jackfruit dish carries flavor internally in a way that most vegetables do not.
Its starch changes how the dish thickens
Unripe jackfruit releases starch during cooking, which thickens the surrounding liquid without any added thickener.
Cooks account for this by starting with more liquid than a comparable vegetable dish would need, since the gravy tightens noticeably as it sits.
The same starch is why jackfruit is often described as filling out of proportion to its size. It behaves closer to a root vegetable than to a fruit on the plate.
It takes seasoning slowly
The dense flesh absorbs flavor gradually, so recipes usually cook it in the spiced base rather than seasoning it at the end.
Many regional preparations parboil or fry the pieces first, which opens the structure and shortens the time needed for spice to reach the interior.
Frying also firms the outer surface, so pieces survive a long simmer without shredding. That matters where the dish is meant to hold recognizable chunks rather than dissolve.
Canned and fresh behave differently
Canned young jackfruit is already softened and packed in brine, so it needs rinsing and less cooking, and it will fall apart if treated like the fresh fruit.
Fresh jackfruit is sticky with latex and demands oiled hands and a sharp knife, which is the main reason canned is the sensible default in an American kitchen.
Frozen chunks sit between the two, holding more structure than canned while skipping the butchery. They come closest to what a recipe written for fresh fruit assumes.