Papaya is not just a delicious fruit; it contains abundant
health benefits and medicinal values. Papain
enzyme present in green or unripe papaya is much more beneficial for our body
than the ripened papaya fruit. In
fact, green papaya juice helps in
correction of bowel irregularities in a relatively short time including
indigestion, constipation, acid reflux, heartburn, irritable bowel syndrome,
stomach ulcers, and other more serious gastrointestinal disorders.
Recently, we went to farmland owned by my husband and his family and were
overwhelmed to see mango orchards. We
were walking around picking radish, guava and some other fruits and
vegetables. I saw a couple of trees of
papaya and asked the farm manager to give one or two raw papayas. I thought if I wrap the raw papaya in a
newspaper it might ripen on its own. Its
then I heard some words of wisdom that raw papaya can be cooked into varied
ways. It can be turned into Kofta
curry. Koftas are like small dumplings
made of grated raw papaya along with some spices and condiments.
Ingredients:
For dumpling or Kofta:
1 medium size raw or green papaya peeled and grated, 1 medium size onion grated, 4 tsp besan or chickpea flour, 1 small green chili chopped finely, ½ tsp salt, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp dry mango powder, oil for deep frying.
Method:
Mix all the ingredients very well so that it becomes kind of
smooth. Deep fry the dumplings in the heated oil by
putting a small tsp of mix at a time.
You may fry five or six dumplings at one time, depending on the size of
your pan. When all are done keep them separate.
Now prepare the curry for the dumplings.
Ingredients
For the Curry:
1 big onion, peeled and finely chopped, 3 cloves of garlic
finely chopped, ½ inch piece of ginger grated, ½ tsp of cumin seeds, 1 ½ tsp of
coriander powder, 1 tsp of garam massala,
1 tsp of red pepper(optional), 3 medium size tomatoes finely chopped, 1
tbsp of plain yogurt, salt to taste.
Method:
Heat a tbsp of cooking oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds to
it. When they stop spluttering, add
ginger. After 30 seconds add onion and
garlic and reduce the flame to medium. Let this mix cook very well; add salt
(keep in mind that dumplings are also salty). Once it leaves oil on the sides,
add tomatoes and coriander powder. When
this is well blended, add yogurt. Cook
for another two minutes. Put 2 to 3 cups
of water in this mix. Add red pepper as
that will give color to the curry. Once
a boil comes, add fried dumplings to it.
Give another boil, add garam massala or curry powder and cover it. Turn off the flame. Serve hot with chapatti, Nan
or rice.
