Som tam/ Thai green Papaya Salad

It was in 2013, I heard about it for the first time and until then, I never used raw papaya uncooked. One of my colleagues had returned from Thailand tour who introduced me couple of Thailand recipes. This salad is one among them. It is easy to prepare, at the same time very tasty. In Thailand, it is prepared with fish sauce & shrimp. I am sharing a recipe without shrimp & fish sauce for pure vegetarians. Adding raw papaya in the regular diet has many benefits as the major enzymes in it is reduced as the fruit ripens. Papaya is a power house of nutrients; it works as internal cleanser as it is rich in fibre. The other ways to use raw papaya is in curries, stir fries, halwa and more. Here you find the recipe for the Salad. While picking papaya for this salad, it is important to choose very green or hard variety of it.
Thai green Papaya Salad


Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
Shredded raw Papaya – 1 cup
Lemon Juice – 2 tsp
Red chilli – 1
Roasted peanuts – 2 tbsp
Garlic – 4 cloves
Onions – 1 (small)
Coriander leaves – 4-5 strands (for garnishing)
Oil – 1 tsp (I used Coconut oil)
Salt – to taste

Method:
  • Peel off and deseed papaya. 
  • Cut into 1 inch long thin pieces or grate it and keep aside. 
  • Remove the skin of garlic and crush nicely in a mortar & pestle or with a knife. 
  • Shred red chillis and crush well to get small flakes. You can use chilli flakes too. 
  • Peel off and chop onions finely.  
  • Dry roast peanuts, remove skin and crush to get rough pieces. 
  • Chop coriander leaves. 
  • Now mix crushed garlic, chilli flakes, oil, lemon juice, salt, chopped onions. Mix well. 
  • Add papaya pieces and peanuts.  Mix thoroughly. 
  • Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve.

Som tam


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