Green Papaya Koottu
Until a few years ago, I didn’t think I could actually enjoy green, unripe papaya so much. I had been to my mom’s place for a holiday and in the backyard there was this papaya tree with lots of green papaya and few lush, ripe ones. The first few days I enjoyed the delicious papaya fruits to my hearts content. Then one morning, my mom asked me to pluck one green papaya to make koottu as we were getting guests for lunch. I hadn’t tasted any dish with green papaya until then and so was very skeptical about how it will turn out, and that too when we were expecting guests. To my utter surprise, when I tasted my mom’s Green Papaya Koottu, it actually was very delicious. It was a very simple, home-style gravy dish made with unripe papaya and lentils. Tasted great with plain rice and rasam rice too.
From then on I started including green papaya in my diet and keep experimenting in different recipes. I include them in koottu, dry curry, kurma, salad, pickle, halwa, raitha and also as a vegetable in my sambar. Green papaya koottu is very light on the stomach and nutritious too, so can be had as an accompaniment to rice or roti for any meal of the day. In fact, the recipe for this koottu is somewhat similar to my Watermelon Rind Koottu, but with a few changes this Green Papaya Koottu tastes totally different and unique in its own way. The addition of yoghurt and coriander leaves while grinding the masala makes a big difference. So go ahead and try this simple, healthy koottu!
Ingredients
Green papaya (cubed) – 4 cups
Toor dhal – 1 cup
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Fresh grated coconut – 3/4 cup
Green Chillies – 3 (or to taste)
Cumin seeds – 1 1/2 tsp
Fresh ginger – 2 cm piece
Fresh coriander leaves (chopped roughly) – a handful
Plain yoghurt (or vegan yogurt) – 1 1/2 tbsp
Coconut oil – 1 1/2 tbsp
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Urad dhal/Black gram – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – a few
Salt – 3/4 tsp (or to taste)
Jaggery/brown sugar – 1 tsp (optional)
Yield
Serves 4
Prep time
30 mins
Cook time
20 mins
Method
1) Boil toor dhal with turmeric powder and 1/2 tsp of coconut oil until well cooked but not very mushy. Set aside.
2) Heat a wide pan, take the cubed green papaya, add salt, jaggery, 1/2 tsp of cumin seeds. Add half cup of water to this. Mix and close the pan. Let it cook on medium heat for about 8 – 10 mins. Stir once or twice. Keep the pan covered until it cooks.
3) After about 8 mins, open the pan and check if the papaya is fully cooked and soft. If it is not, then allow it to cook for a further 2 to 3 mins.
4) Once the papaya cooks fully, add the cooked dhal to this. Simmer. Let it boil for further 2 – 3 mins.
5) In the meantime, grind freshly grated coconut, 1 tsp cumin seeds and green chillies, ginger, coriander leaves, few curry leaves and yoghurt coarsely in a mixer.
6) Add the coarsely ground coconut mixture to the papaya-dhal mixture. Mix well. Your green papaya koottu is almost ready.
7) After 2 mins switch off the heat. In a small tempering pan, take coconut oil. Heat a bit, add mustard seeds and wait for it to splutter. Once it starts spluttering, add urad dhal and fry until golden.
8) Add the remaining curry leaves and pour the tempering on the koottu. Mix well and serve along with plain rice or roti.
Notes
- I use moong dhal in most of my koottu dishes, because it is very light on the stomach and cooks faster. But this koottu tastes better with toor dhal. Adding a small quantity of coconut oil while cooking the dhal enhances the aroma of the dish. In case you have fresh turmeric root, I would suggest to use that instead of turmeric powder.
- Fresh coconut is the best for koottu, so don’t substitute it with desiccated coconut or dry coconut powder. If you don’t have fresh grated coconut, just add 2-3 tbsps of full fat coconut milk or omit the ingredient entirely.
- Coconut is highly nutritious and should be consumed as fresh as possible without much cooking. Therefore after adding the ground coconut mixture, don’t boil for more than a minute or two.
