I had a very productive day yesterday and was really exhausted from all of it. I am not complaining but very thankful because that was an incredible day for me. One of the many things that I was able to accomplish is prepare this side dish which I contributed to the birthday party celebration here. This is what is left of that side dish which we call atchara.

I mentioned from my post yesterday that I was still thinking about what to make out of the papayas that I took home from the wedding and the farm.

See there are a few of them and I thought that I could make a side dish and a crunchy snack. The side dish which is the atchara that I managed to make but the other plan which is the crunchy snack or the okoy did not happen. The atchara could be likened to a pickled good that is how I can think of it. Sweet and sour with a little heat which is a good side dish to refresh the palate.

I forgot to take some photos on how I prepared the atchara because I got too busy to document and it was too late before I realized.

Here is a quick recap of the steps:

1. After the skin had been removed, I grated the papaya finely using an ordinary cheese grater or anything similar that you already have in your kitchen.
2. Remove the excess juice from the papaya using a cheese cloth or any clean cloth. Put a handful of the grated papaya on the said cloth and wring it until there is no more juice left.
3. Melt some brown sugar on a cup of vinegar over low heat using a medium pot. Just eyeball the measurements making sure the sweetness and tartness are balanced.
4. Add the grated papaya to the pot of melted brown sugar and vinegar and stir. Then add all the remaining ingredients which are: grated carrots, thinly sliced ginger, thinly slicked red bell pepper, a few cloves of minced garlic and onions, pineapple chunks then some raisins.
5. Stir everything together and set aside after a few minutes no need to cook or boil because we are not going to can or store the atchara.
6. Serve and enjoy

See how even and finely chopped all the ingredients are. I did not include the measurements of the ingredients sorry, I had been doing this for the longest time I just eyeball everything.

I put the left over on some glass jars with lid so the guests can take them home. I am happy that they love it.

Much love,

Ally