The Papaya Story

I once wrote a book called Fruits for life.It’s a book which Amazon likes too and has picked up for Prime reading several times.

Now this book Fruits for life, was the first book in  the nutrition Secrets series.

That’s when I started exploring more about fruits and vegetables. 

Today is the Papaya story.

Once upon a time we had a papaya tree in our backyard.Every two to three years during the April norwesters ,the tree would fall,then another would grow.For the few years the trees stayed with us we had small but fresh papaya.They were added to mixed veggie dishes.

It was nutrition but not always tasty.

I fell in love with the sweet papaya in Delhi while studying .The markets near Safdarjung always had plenty of fresh fruits in store.While the more exotic variety of fruits were not suitable for my pocket, a lovely ripe papaya fitted my meal plans to a T .

The ripe papaya when fresh and firm was delicious as a fruit .But Bengalis cook the unripe papaya in very many ways.That’s the recipe I will talk about today.

Papaya many ways:

We have a sweet dish with it,as chutney. 

We add it to daal,in mutton dishes(the papein helps tenderize the meat),to mixed veggies and also eat it boiled (difficult one).

We also make a pepey ghanto. 

In all the papaya stories ,never once did I think of cooking it.My mom cooks it really well though.

But this 2020 I am in an adventurous mood,so I did cook the papaya as a veg-) side dish.

Ingredients you will  need for Bengali Raw papaya cooked spicy:

Mustard oil,or sunflower oil or sesame oil .Bay leaves,ginger,whole garam masala,jeera powder (cumin powder) turmeric, salt ,green chillies and plenty of tomatoes.

You can add raisins for a little sweet and nuts for a crunch.Important point is you need a firm papaya, grated finely.

That’s a good way to have the right consistency of the dish.

Sharing a quick video of the dish and a full recipe soon.

Quick method:

Gas on.Heat oil in a ladhai,saucepan,whatever you cook in on the gas.Let it heat up.Add mustard oil,wait for it to change colour.

Add the bay leaf ,cardamom ,ginger grated or paste and lightly roast them.Add the grated papaya.Mix the spices in a few tea spoons of water so that it’s a paste and no lumps are there .Add to the grated papaya together with tomatoes and green chillies.

Stir well till the masala is evenly distributed .Then cover and cook.This cooks in it’s own steam.If it gets stuck to the bottom of the pan start adding tea spoons of hot water ,by the side.But not a whole lot.

No one can eat soggy kancha pepey ghanto(Bengali word). Cook till it has a bite but no raw taste. Garnish with raisins and nuts or add small pieces of fried potatoes. We skipped all three but added Chola.

I like cooking with different vegetables.It’s a Challenge and you feel good knowing what you have put inside your body.

This is best eaten with Indian roti/chapati or even paratha.Spice quotient depends on you.

Do you like papaya?How do you eat it?Cooked or ripe ?