I didn't think I would make it for this week's Plant based challenge. We have been exhausted from work. Plus today we had to work on our day off. Everyone went back to school so we were left with two places and hardly any staff. We don't know what to do. My coworker who cooks and serves has to work in our sandwich shop next door instead of prepping so we have no choice but to do the prep.
On top of everything there is construction on the street. It's more like destruction. We were woken up at 6.30 a.m. by the sweet sounds of jackhammers. The kind that are attached to bulldozer like machines. The whole building was shaking. We had only been sleeping for 4 hours.
Our coworker happens to live across the hall from me. When I got to work, I looked at her and she looked at me. I said, "yes I know". We were in the same sleepless boat.
Anyway I got my second wind after work so here I am presenting last night's dinner. We were given six choices as usual. I chose green papaya as the star. I have only in my life had green papaya salad.
I thought I would try for the first time to cook green papaya. I have only recently heard of green papaya curry so there I went.
I peeled it then cut it open. The smell gave me flashback of when I was around two or three. A vivid memory of the smell of our papaya tree in Bangkok where I was born and lived until I was four. I also remember my mother or father pouring hot boiling water on the insects that were crawling on it.
I had some tomatoes that needed to be used so I thought why not throw them in.
I added 1 chopped onion, 1 shallot, 4 cloves minced garlic, 1 carrot, 1 teaspoon minced ginger, 4 green chilies, 2 tablespoons and some curry leaves.
The curry leaves were frozen a few weeks ago, after I found them in a grocer near by. I was certain that they didn't exist in Canada. The grocery store is run by Indian people so I dared to ask if they had curry leaves thinking it was a dumb question. Surprisingly he said "yes over there".
Since I was going for Indian inspired flavors. I made it up as I went along using many of the spices I had, that are found in Indian food.
These spices were toasted cumin and coriander, chili, turmeric, nigella seeds, mustard seeds, asafoetida, and garam masala. I used pretty much a teaspoon of each or more. I didn't measure anything so salt was added to my liking.
I fried the onions and spices and the other ingredients in oil.
After all of the items were in the pot I covered it with vegetable broth that I had made the other day.
At the last minute I ground up some dried chickpeas into a flour and added this to create a little thickness. It was around 1 plus cups. I didn't really know how it would work out.
It turns out that very green papaya takes forever to soften, so this would be a slow long cook. I didn't think it would ever get tender but it did. I was very pleased.
Like I said, I was making in up as I went along, so I decided to blend a third of the mixture.
For the final touch I garnished with roasted cashews and green onion. I would have added fresh coriander but I didn't have any.
Basmati rice was in my cupboard so that is what we had it with.
I wish I had done this sooner in my life. Green papaya is more versatile than I thought. This was worth the long wait.
Well I am happy to have leftovers after today's shift at work.
I wish you all well!
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