Green Papaya Curry

Green Papaya Curry

Green Papayas are my new favorite vegetable. They have a similar flavor and consistency to an orange fall squash or maybe a sweet potato but they are so much better.

Papaya trees take up a fraction the space of sprawling squash and sweet potato beds and pretty much care for themselves. They have few pests and provide shade from the summer sun. One papaya tree can produce 60 to 80 pounds of fruit per year and they fruit continuously - so learn to love green papaya.

Green papayas can be eaten raw in dishes like a Thai green papaya salad but I like cooking them.

Cooking the papaya also seems to diminish the fruit’s somewhat musty flavor. My favorite papaya-hater actually loved cooked green papaya as long as I told her it was squash.

For this dish, the green papaya adds a nice sweetness to offset the spice of the curry. I like to leave the chunks a bit larger than usual – maybe 1-inch by inch square to give it a little more substance and texture. The greens give the dish more variety and color but feel free to add in different or additional vegetables like red peppers or peas.

I used to make a sweet potato curry but the green papaya actually holds together a bit better than sweet potatoes so the sauce is less likely to get too thick.

Serve it over rice and if you want to make it more authentic grab some naan from the store as well. 

This recipe is vegetarian but if you want to get carnivorous you can dice and sauté a couple chicken breasts with the onion or use the curry as a base to serve chicken or fish off the grill.

What you need

A little olive oil

1 Green papaya 

   This will probably be too much but just clean and cook the whole thing and keep any leftovers for another recipe.

1 Onion

Some greens

1 can/jar of your favorite curry sauce

   I used an Archer Farms green curry sauce for this recipe. For a yellow curry I like S&B Golden Curry Sauce blocks.

Hot peppers (optional)

What you do with it

~ Boil about 2-4 cups of water- just enough to cover your papaya

~ Take off the outside skin with a carrot peeler and cut it into bite sized chunks. 

    Green papayas will give off a milky white fluid so I peel it right in the sink.

~ Boil the papaya chunks for 10-15 minutes and when they are done drain them and set them aside

   To see if they are done, stab a piece with a sharp knife. If it sticks to the knife they need more time but if it slides right off then it’s done.

~ Heat a little olive oil in a sauce pan on low to medium low

~ Chop the onion and add it to the pan

~ Clean and chop the greens and add the hot pepper if you like

~ Sauté until the onion is clear and the greens darken

~ Add as much papaya as you want to the pan. About half should be fine but it depends on the size.

~ Add the curry sauce and simmer a minute or two over low to medium-low heat

~ Stir and serve