Cook the jackfruit in a little water until it is very soft. Allow to cool and pulse just once or twice to get a mostly smooth paste with still some texture.

Put jackfruit paste and jaggery syrup (or sugar) in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook on medium heat. Make sure you taste for sweetness at the outset and adjust by adding more sugar or jaggery syrup if the fruit wasn't sweet enough to complement the sweeteners.

Continue cooking on medium heat. Midway, the mixture will thicken and boil like volcanic mudpots—you will have to stir constantly to keep mini explosions from happening and messing your cooking area. Stirring keeps the boil at bay.

After a while, when most of the water has evaporated, the boil will subside. Add 1-2 teaspoons of ghee to keep the mixture from catching at the bottom.

Now add the coconut milk, a cup at a time and continue mixing and cooking. The mixture will have liquified but will quickly thicken again.

Once it thickens a second time, add again 1-2 teaspoons of ghee. Continue to cook until the mixture becomes glossy and very thick. Switch off the flame.

In a small tempering pan, add the remainder of the ½ cup ghee—yes, all of it—and heat. Fry the coconut bits in this, and tip this into the hot jackfruit jam.

Turn on the flame again to medium and cook until glossy and with a halva-like jiggle, about 7-8 minutes. Switch off the flame.

Add the flavorings.

Bottle in clean, dry jars, cool and store, refrigerated.

This jam is a much-thickened version of chakka pradhaman. Save the coconut milk addition for the very end and do not thicken as much, and you have a pradhaman instead of a halva/jam.

Mix all the dry ingredients together (cornstarch, flour, baking powder, salt) in a bowl. Set aside.

Mix butter and sugar in a large bowl, until very creamy. You can use a wooden spoon or a stand mixer on the lowest setting.

Add the egg yolks and the whole egg one by one; mix to incorporate.

Add brandy, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix well.

Now add the flour mixture very gradually, mixing very well. If the dough is still sticky, sprinkle flour over top, just enough so that you can handle it easily.

Pat it into shape and tip it into a small box or wrap with parchment (I don’t buy or use plastic wrap any more), and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to overnight. You can freeze it even longer and use when you’re ready, too (in a box, well sealed, not the parchment).

Preheat oven to 170C / 325F

If you’re taking the dough out after a long freeze, you may want to let it thaw a little before rolling. Not sure how long, that depends on the temperatures where you are. About a ½ hour, I’d guess.

On a very well-floured surface, roll dough to about ½ cm or ¼” thickness. You may want to work with small batches of the dough, rather than trying to roll the whole thing. Cut into chunks and work with one at a time.

Sprinkle flour if the dough still sticks. I found it easiest to place the dough on a floured parchment sheet and another parchment sheet on top to roll. It was just less messy that way.

I also needed to keep sticking the rolled dough back in the freezer for about 10 minutes before cutting into shapes. It was just too soft to work with otherwise.

So, roll—transfer to a plate—freeze for 10 minutes, and then use a cookie cutter.

Using a round cookie cutter, cut circles and place them on a cookie tray or parchment sheet.

Gather the scraps, add more dough, roll again, freeze again, and cut more cookies and repeat the process until you use up all the dough.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until barely starting to color. Let the alfajores cool completely on a wire rack.

Put a tablespoon of jackfruit jam on the bottom side of one cookie, spread it a little.

Now sandwich with another cookie, and press lightly to get the jam to spread and the cookies to adhere.

With your finger, wipe any jam that squeezes out, but leave enough in place for the coconut garnish to stick on.

Toast the shredded coconut until its browning nicely. Transfer to a plate. Roll the alfajores in the toasted coconut.