Called as the fruit of the angels, papaya is one of the fruits thats high in nutritional value and available throughout the year. Its a rich source of antioxidants, potassium, magnesium and fiber.

Several options and variations are possible with raw pappaya...Today I tried papaya kootu...one of my hubby's favourites...
Kootu is a South Indian delicacy which is vegetables in coconut gravy. Commonly, its made with either pumpkin, choyote squash (chow-chow/bengalur kathrikka), opo squash (Sorakka), zuccini or raw papaya and it takes about 20-30 mins to make this dish!


INGREDIENTS:

Raw Papaya: 1 Medium sized (Peeled, deseeded and diced)
Mustard: 1 tsp
Urad dal: 1 tsp
Curry Leaves: a stem
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida (Hing): a pinch
Grated coconut: 1 cup
Cumin seeds (Jeera): 2 tsp
Dry red chillies: 3 nos.
Coconut oil: 1 tsp
Salt: as required


METHOD:

Heat a little oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds. Once they sputter add turmeric powder, hing, urad dal and curry leaves. Add the diced papaya pieces, salt and cook by covering with a lid.
Make sure that the papaya is not over cooked.
Grind together the coconut, jeera and the red chillies and add it to the cooked papaya.
Mix well for about a few minutes and the kootu is ready.

This serves as a great side dish with chapathis or with rice and rasam.

Ciao till next time...Have fun! Vidya.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I tried this Vidyu and it came out really good. This was indeed a good dish.

s. stockwell said...

We are going to try this recipe too...love the idea of green papaya. best, s