Thai Inspired Kaccha Papaya Koshimbir

My Thai Inspiration for Kaccha Papaya Koshimbir

Korea has started growing a lot of tropical fruits like papaya and mango, and guess what a kaccha (raw) papaya was sitting on my kitchen platform for quite some time now. It needed quick attention. The last time, I had a raw papaya, I made peeth perun papayachi bhaaji, the next time, a Gujarati Sambharo; and this time it needed to be something different but quintessentially Indian to go along as a side for my Indian dishes. Papaya halwa crossed my mind, but then it struck me to make something Asian-inspired Indian 🙂 I was reminded of the delicious Thai Papaya Salad that we ordered in the restaurants on numerous occasions and decided to make it the desi style – Kacchya papayachi koshimbir

Here is how I adapted it to suit my Indian tastebuds:

Ingredients:

Half a raw papaya – grated

Half a small red onion – finely chopped (optional)

Roasted peanut powder – 2 tbsps

Raw mango (I used an almost ripe mango), finely chopped – 2 tbsp (optional)

Lemon juice – 2 to 3 tsp

Brown sugar/white sugar – 3 tsp or more as per your liking

Chilli powder – 1 tsp or less to suit your palate

Coriander leaves, finely chopped – 1 tbsp

Soya sauce – 2 tsp or more depending on the intensity of the sauce. Usually fish sauce is added to the Thai dish but I used soya sauce to make it vegan.

Salt – to taste

Recipe:

Just toss all the ingredients in a bowl and mix it well. Adjust the flavours as per your liking. Serve it immediately or it will release the juices and get soggy.

The crunchy, sweet and salty koshimbir is really refreshing, goes well with Indian dishes; and is ideal as a summer salad.