Among all the South Asian cuisines that exist today, the one that is closest to our Indian tastes has to be Thai cuisine. The unique mixture of sweet, sour and spicy - which features in a number of Indian dishes - is something that is a Thai speciality. There are a plethora of options in Thai cuisine such as Pad Thai noodles, which are made with very specific ingredients and cooking methods. However, there are a few simpler dishes in the cuisine as well which you can recreate with ingredients that are easily available at home. The healthy Thai-style Raw Papaya salad recipe is one of them.
Raw Papaya Salad, also known as Som Tam, is a unique dish found in restaurants as well as on the streets of Thailand. It uses locally sourced, fresh vegetables and nuts combined with a range of tangy and sour ingredients. The raw papaya salad can vary from being obnoxiously spicy to lip-smackingly sour. Local variations to the Som Tam include ones peppered with crabs, shrimp, green mango or corn depending upon the regional availability. The salad can be eaten by itself or paired with authentic Thai-style sticky rice which can be eaten as a main course as well as a dessert.
(Also Read: Mango Sticky Rice: This Classic Thai Dessert Screams Summer (Recipe Inside))
To make the delicious and healthy Thai-style Raw Papaya salad, start by grating half a raw papaya into shreds. Now, put together garlic, green chillies and red chillies and mince them with the help of a mortar and pestle. Add sugar and salt to this and grind it well. Mix in boiled beans, peanuts and lemon juice to bind the mixture together. You can also add fish sauce as an optional ingredient. Once you are through with the dressing, simply put it together with the shredded raw papaya, tomatoes. Garnish the salad with chopped salted peanuts and you're good to go!
So, next time you're looking to try a new and innovative salad recipe - go for the Thai-style Raw Papaya salad. The gamut of flavours that you will experience is completely unmatchable and you will want to make it again very soon!
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