ALOO PEPER DALNA / POTATO N RAW PAPAYA CURRY

A humble Bengali vegetarian dish is my pick today. It is a simple curry  with raw papaya, potato, few spices. As a child I hated vegetables, today I love them as I do Bengali fish curries. I understood the necessity of having vegetables in our daily diet. This vegetable curry is an age old traditional Bengali one, we generally call ALOO PEPER DALNA. Any weekday lunch / dinner is perfect with such a vegetarian curry, dal, a fish curry and any kind of fritter or greens stir fry with piping hot rice. That is what a regular Bengali meal is all about.

Raw / Green Papaya has many nutritional benefits. It is a powerful fruit full of essential nutrients and enzymes to promote digestive health. Many do not like it, when raw, it's taste is bland! I remember in our childhood we had papaya trees in our maternal grandparent's place. Whenever the grandmother wished to prepare curry with raw papaya, she would tear one and cook. It was that simple. It tasted amazing. We use it as a natural meat tenderiser! In our family, whenever we had / have any issue in our stomach, we were  fed curries made with it without spices or boiled pieces to be eaten with steamed rice!

Later, we had papaya tree at my parent's place too. They are easy to grow without any special care taken. But you cannot allow water clogging near the roots! This island has papaya trees growing everywhere, somedays I may pluck one or two from the roadside! Thats for fun because it's price is cheap here! It can be enjoyed ripened as a fruit or raw in curries; with gravy or dry. [SKIP USING GHEE IF YOU ARE ON VEGAN DIET]

You can check few other of my recipes with potato; here they are : ALOO POTOLER DALNA,  JHINGE KUMRO ALOOR TARKARI,  POTATO BIRYANI,  ALOO CHAAT, NOTUN ALOOR DOM,  RAW BANANA N POTATO CURRY, SWEET POTATO & PEANUT SNACKER

INGREDIENTS :

Raw Papaya : 1 medium

Potato : 1 big

Tomato : 1 [I skipped because originally tomato was not used]

Ginger Paste : 2 tbsp

Red Chilli Powder : 1 tsp

Cumin Powder : 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder : 1 tsp

Salt : As required

Sugar : 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seed : 3 pinches

Bayleaf : 1

Bengali Garam Masala Powder : 2-3 pinch [1cinnamon stick of one inch, 2 green cardamom, 2 cloves....ground together]

Oil : 4 tbsp

Ghee : 1tsp [skip if you are vegan]

METHOD :

Peel and cut the papaya into cubes discarding and scraping the middle portion nicely. Peel n cut the potato into cubes. 

Wash both separately. Rub with half turmeric and required amount of salt.

Heat oil in a wok. Lightly fry the potato and papaya cubes separately. Keep aside.

Temper the remaining oil with a bayleaf and cumin seeds.

Add the ginger paste. Fry until the raw smell goes.

Add the cumin powder, turmeric powder, chilli powder and salt. Stir for a minute at low heat.

Now add the fried potatoes & raw papaya, fold in well and stir for 2-3 minutes.

Add a coffee mug of water. Stir and cover.

After 5-7 minutes, remove the cover, add Bengali garam masala, sugar and ghee. Stir and boil for another 1 minute.

Serve hot with steamed rice or flat breads!