Raw Papaya Thoran | Kerala Style Kaplanga Thoran | Karumoosa Thoran | Naadan Kappakya Thoran

Today's recipe is a slightly different one friends.. Did you know that you can cook raw papaya as a veggie and make amazing dishes out of them? That's one beauty of growing up on the west coast of India in Kerala. You learn to make use of the leaves, stalks or the raw fruits and make varieties of dishes out of it. Most of the Keralites, at least the previous generation grow many fruits and veggies at home itself at their backyard and whip up tasty dishes out of those organic produce. 

I have seen my mil make a very yummy gravy from the raw mango, jack fruit seeds and cucumber, all home grown ;) Usually during the morning ritual of cleaning (sweeping off the dry leaves and such) the front and back yards, whenever she comes across a fallen raw papaya or raw mango, she brings them inside to sneak them into the lunch and dinner menu for the day.. Cool right ;) So I thought I will share with you how to make a thoran (poriyal/stir fry with coconut) using this raw papaya. I also have another gravy type recipe using raw papaya. Will post that sometime later. For now, let's see how to make this easy and ready in a jiffy thoran..

I Took:  Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 20 minutes   Serves : 3-4 persons I Used: Raw Papaya Coconut Oil Mustard - - - 250 gm/1.5 cups (chopped)  1 tbsp ¼ tsp Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp Salt Curry Leaves - - As needed A sprig To Pulse: Coconut - ¼ cup Shallots/Small Onion - 4 nos Green Chilly Cumin seeds Garlic - - - 1 no 3 nos small sized ¼ tsp The Way:

1. Scrape away the skin of the raw papaya and cut it into half. Remove all the seeds from and then rinse them well. And chop them very finely. If you have a food processor, go ahead and use it

2. In a pan, heat the coconut oil. Splutter mustard seeds and curry leaves. When it starts to splutter, add the chopped raw papaya along with ¼ tsp turmeric powder and salt. No need to add water. Allow them to cook covered in a medium low flame until done. Check in between to ensure that it doesn't get burnt or stuck at the bottom of the pan and give a quick stir. It should take about 10-15 minutes to cook

3. Now while the papaya gets cooked, coarsely pulse together the ingredients under 'To Pulse' in mixie without adding water. Do not grind to a smooth paste. Just 3-4 pulse until all the ingredients get crushed and mixed well would be sufficient.

4. Now add the ground coconut paste to the cooked raw papaya and and give a nice stir till the coconut tempering is coated evenly all over. Switch off the flame in a minute or two and serve

Serve along with brown rice, Sambar or pulissery and pappad and a non veg dry dish !

Notes:

• Coconut is the key ingredient for thoran. So do not compromise on it :)

Cheers,

Chitz