Indian green papaya salad

While a ripe and juicy papaya is delicious as a fruit, its unripe counterpart, the green papaya can be made into a delicious warm salad. Shredded green papaya stir fried with carrots, bell peppers and a little bit of heat makes a great side salad. The most important ingredient in this salad is a generous amount of freshly squeezed lime juice which gives this salad a tangy edge. Give it a go and enjoy as an accompaniment to any meal.

Serves: 4 | Prep. time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 medium green papaya, shredded

• 1 carrot, shredded

• 1 small green bell pepper, diced

• 1 tsp of freshly crushed green chili pepper and ginger

• 1 tbsp canola oil

• 1/8 tsp ground asafoetida (or Hing, in Hindi)

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

• 1 tsp ground turmeric

• salt

• 1 tsp sugar

• juice of 1 lime

• cilantro or mint for garnish

Directions:

1. Peel the green papaya, cut it in half and scoop out all the seeds and fibrous bits from the center. Shred using a grater (My medium papaya gave me about 4 packed cups of grated material). Be careful while grating because the papaya is a bit slimy and will tend to slip out of your hands.

2. Also shred the carrot and dice the bell pepper.

3. To make my chili and ginger paste, I used a 1 inch piece of hot Serrano pepper and 1/2 inch of ginger root and crushed it using a mortar and pestle.

4. In a pan, heat the oil. Once hot, on medium flame, add the asafoetida and mustard seeds. Once mustard seeds start crackling, add the ground turmeric and stir for about 30 seconds.

5. Next, add the diced bell peppers and shredded carrot. Stir fry for a minute. Then add the crushed chili pepper and ginger and stir fry for another minute.

6. Add the shredded green papaya next along with a generous pinch of salt. Stir fry for 3-4 minutes, till the papaya becomes a little tender. I don't overcook the papaya because I like to have a bite in my salad.

7. Stir in the sugar and turn the heat off.

8. Finally, add the freshly squeezed lime juice, stir and taste. Add more salt or lime at this point, if needed.

9. Serve warm with a garnish of cilantro or mint leaves.