This one just comes naturally. It’s almost a regular fixture on south Asian tables. It’s so different than the zesty Raw Papaya Salad, which I shared a few weeks back. In come the crunch and earthiness through peanuts and the sticky tang through the tamarind here. Another motivation for making raw papaya salads in different forms is that I live in a monkey infested area and obviously, I want to relish my papayas before the monkeys do, so better green than yellow. As you may have guessed correctly, the kids ensure that there is no shelf life of this salad :-D…. Do make this in a few minutes and have fun !!

Ingredients for Som Tam Thai Green Papaya Salad

Preparing Som Tam Thai Green Papaya Salad

Som Tan Thai Green Papaya Salad

…..need to know (food details)

• Number of people served : 5 to 6
• Preparation time : 15 minutes
• Serving size : 2 to 3 tablespoons

….and we need (ingredients)

• Papaya grated 500 grams, approx. 2 cups : Papaya which is generally a ripened food product is rich in fiber, Vitamin C and improves digestion. Here we use raw grated papaya which is quite like a less watery and less sweet but firmer melon.
• Carrots grated 2 : Carrots are high source of iron and anti oxidants and have sweet and earthy flavor.
• Garlic cloves chopped 4 : Pungency is the reason why we use this allicin rich clove which combats sickness and common cold.
• Tamarind 2 tablespoon : This is the real tangy flavor in the dish. It also has beneficial effects like easing stomach ache, helping in digestion, fever etc.
• Peanuts crushed 3 tablespoon : The nutty and earthy nuts are good for heart and a good source of protein and fiber. 
• Jaggery 2 teaspoon : Jaggery is an amazing anti oxidant and helps the body fight against infections. It is like a buttery liquid sugar and is good to mix in food in powder or liquid forms.
• Soy Sauce 1/4th teaspoon : It is the most popular umami fixture I guess.
• Basil broken 2 tablespoon : In this I used lime basil leaves which I pluck-wash at my garden. Basil is the “King of Herbs” for many reasons. It is a strong anti oxidant. It fights virus, bacteria and other microbes in the body. Besides the regular peppery flavor, the lime basil has sweet and citrus essence too. Since I wanted to enhance the tanginess, I used this basil.
• Salt to taste : I used 1/3rd teaspoon for this. 

….let’s cook ‘n roll (preparing instructions)

• Pound the chopped garlic cloves with a rolling pin or using a light mortar pestle.
• Add the carrots in the mortar (remember, its already grated) and pound a little more to soften the crispiness.
• To this add the grated green papaya and mix well. Crush the entire mixture a little more by twisting the pestle rather than pounding it.
• Now loosen the mixed salad by tossing lightly using a fork.
• Now mix honey, tamarind, soya sauce and salt well into a dressing.
• Dress the salad with this prepared tamarind dressing.
• Add broken basil leaves and peanuts and toss well again.
• Salad ready to please !!

Storage : Don’t store please. The salad will shed water and spoil itself.

Missing Something ? : Try Himalayan pink salt instead of regular salt. It will give a much earthy and authentic essence.