Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Fruit in a Curry!

I have a thing for what we call “independent houses”. As opposed to apartments. It is my dream that one day I will own a large, sprawling bungalow (independent house, if you will. Or row house… or whatever else it is called in your city!) with a lawn in front, a backyard, a porch, a driveway, an outhouse, and lots of trees and place for kids to play. No, we do not have kids. Yet. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting a huge play area, lots of trees to climb, lots of hidden nooks and corners to play hide-and-seek and a lovely verandah or porch to sit and bask in the sun…

That is the kind of house I grew up in and spent 16 years of my life in. I admit that as a kid everything seems much bigger than it actually is; so maybe in my mind’s eye I have attributed space and size that is exaggerated than what it actually was. But now I can’t help it… It has to be as beautiful and sprawling as it is in my imagination :) Of course, staying in Mumbai as we do, this might just remain a dream forever… but that doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about it every day. All my childhood memories, the happy summers, the cold winters, the evening play dates - everything is coloured by the house I lived in. Even the not-so-good times have a character and despondency of their own brought about by the dark, brooding façade of the house in its later years. Good or bad, our huge, ancestral house lent a unique spirit to every memory of mine…


Every time I think of my childhood home, food is not far behind! I know I have gone on and on about the food I grew up with many times, but the dish I’m talking about today is just another one of those traditional Telugu recipes that makes me wax eloquent. As a kid, I admit I never had any great love for this spicy, heavy curry since I was obsessed with only all things fried or potato. And that’s all my diet would consist of… But this “Ava Koora” (Mustard Curry) was a regular feature on our dinner table and was made with either raw papayas, raw bananas or with lauki (gourd). I know these are not the most exciting of vegetables and you might think how can fruits like papaya and banana be made into curries(??), but trust me – when you pair these raw fruits/veggies with the mustard mix, the super pungent flavours will blow your mind!

BOPASAKAYA AVA KOORA (Raw Papaya in Spicy Mustard Curry)

Ingredients:
Raw Papaya – 1 small
Mustard seeds (Rai) – 2 tbsp
Raw Rice – 1 tbsp
Grated fresh Coconut – ¼ cup
Green Chillies – 8
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Coriander Leaves – 1 fistful

For the tempering:
Vegetable Oil – 1 tbsp
Urad Dal -  1 tsp
Channa Dal – 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds – 1 tsp
Curry leaves – 6
Dried Red Chillies– 2
Turmeric – 1 pinch
Asafoetida (Hing) – 1 pinch

Soak 2 tbsp mustard seeds and 1 tbsp raw rice in a cup of warm water. Peel and cube the papaya roughly into 1-inch squares. Make sure you discard the seeds. Boil in salted water until just tender. Drain and set aside. Take the soaked mustard and rice, green chillies, ginger, grated coconut, coriander leaves and salt and grind to a paste. Add about a tablespoon of water, if required, to get a smooth paste.

In a kadhai or non-stick pan, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add all the tempering ingredients and fry till the dal turns golden brown and the mustard seeds start sputtering. Now add the boiled and drained papaya pieces and stir for 2 min. Then add the mustard-coconut paste and mix well. Sprinkle some salt and a little water if needed. Cover and cook for about 10min.

The way I like it:
It's mustard-hot, spicy and delicious!!! Tastes best when served hot with steamed rice and some ghee in typical South-Indian style :) Also goes well as an accompaniment with rasam-rice and rotis.

This recipe is making it's way to Charitra and Richa Priyanka's event - F for fresh Fruit Curries!

Comments (25)

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Never had this curry before, but want to give it a try as we have raw papayas available and because you say this is a traditional telugu dish. Btw don't raw papayas ooze out some milky liquid? is it ok to simply clean it off and boil? I also like reading the telugu names of your dishes :-)
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
hey there! Sorry for the delayed reply... Yes, raw papayas may ooze out a milky liquid, but you can just was it away and boil the papaya is some water. And yes, will try and post more traditional recipes with their Telugu names :)
yum yum i think this is a veggie delite and am flagging it. as you said the mustard cream may lend a perfect zing to the fresh fruit!

you truly live in your past lady!
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
hehehe... i know! I love clinging on to my memories. Not always a good thing! :P
Your description of the dish makes me wanna try it out right away!! Looks so good!! Andhra cuisine is one of my top fav..And we are on the same boat coz I too share the same dream!!! The sprawling lawn, a huge staircase and yup also a place for a barbeque!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
Aah... you are a girl after my own heart then :) someday.... sigh!
memories...in memories everything seems bigger, better, more colorful:) anyway I wish that your dream about an own house would come true!
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
Raw papayas are added to the traditional oriya mutton curry as well... it seems it makes the other ingredients cook faster or some such thing..! And Raw bananas are amazing... try the raw banana cutlets... they always turn out nice..
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
Really?? Didnt know that... And I love raw bananas too. Love them fried crisp!
so totally impressive dear....awesome ..:P
Tasty Appetite
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
Beautiful writeup & awesome looking curry . Thanks for sharing something that is new to me.
1 reply · active 687 weeks ago
Glad you like it Alpana :)
Raw papaya in a curry sounds so good. My mom would make a dryer subzi, but I can't remember how she made it. I wish I could find green papaya here-- I'd love to try this.
Somehow it worked now! I wanted to say that even I have a thing for independent houses. In the house I was born in, there was a lawn, jasmine hedges, many flowering trees at the front and place to play - at the back and one side were the guava, mango, gooseberry, coconut, etc, and lot of other trees big and small. When I said that was the best house I'd ever lived in, my folks said what was there in that house, it couldn't accommodate even a couple of guests - but childhood impressions are like that, I guess. The house is still there, modernised and all, even visible from our current one, but can't peek into it because there are other big houses around! I always had this fantasy, for a long time, of growing up and buying that house!
I thought this was majjiga pulusu, we don't make ava kuras at home though I've tried them once or twice.
1 reply · active 685 weeks ago
Hey Sra! So glad you could finally comment here... Ur so right about childhood impressions! Sigh... But still, the hope remans that can recreate that experience somehow, somewhere...
Aahhh... majiga pulusu is another childhood dish! I must try my hand at it and ask mom for the recipe. Do give this ava koora recipe a try. Am sure you will like it!
I have never made a raw papaya anything.. this is quite intriguing.. i love the curry and the tempering for sure.
i lived in independent houses while growing up, but now cant imagine living in one after living in a condo here in Seattle.:)

Thank you for dropping by the blog via harini. hope to see you there often!
-Richa
1 reply · active 685 weeks ago
Hey Richa! I can understand the advantages of the condo :D looking after a huge sprawling house can be a nightmare!!!
You will definitely be seeing me more often on ur blog :)
Hi Swathi, I cook a lot with fruits and absolutely love doing this :) curry looks very interesting :)
Also want to share with you the good news that you are a winner of my blog anniversary giveaways - congrats dear - do email me your address and I will send your prize asap :) cheers, Priya
1 reply · active 685 weeks ago
Thanks a ton Priya! Am elated!!! :) Shooting you a mail right away...
Wow...yummy,Thanks for sharing.
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