Papaya Salad

My colleague M had a papaya tree in her backyard. One night, strong wind uprooted the tree. It fell, slamming onto the ground with all its green unripened fruits. M brought all the fruits to school. There were people who wanted them. C, a new mother, wanted the fruits to boil in soup because papaya soup is known to enhance production of breast milk. I, on the other hand, asked for 1 piece of fruit to make papaya salad.

She had given me the fruit more than a week ago .... and it had been sitting there in my fruit basket for many days. Till today, when I finally had some free time to make it. I peeled the papaya, washed it, and then grated it. It was more difficult to grate than expected ... because the fruit was slippery to handle, and I was afraid of grating my fingers. I could be that clumsy.

Then, I squeezed a lime into a bowl, and mixed it with a tablespoon of fish sauce and a tablespoon of castor sugar. I stirred the mixture well and then added 2 pieces of smashed cili padi and a tablespoon of finely ground toasted dried prawns. Finally, I added in the shredded papaya and tossed to mix.

Papaya Salad 

Before serving, I garnished with some toasted peanuts. It was spicy and tangy, so refreshing to eat, and both my dad and I liked it very much. 

This was my first attempt .... I forgot to put in some tomatoes ... that would give the salad a tinge of red, I also did not put in long beans as I did not have them at home. Easy to make, delicious to eat .... I'd make this again and again. Just have to get my hands on those green unripened papayas. :))