Papaya From The Garden
We have these papaya trees (or do we call them plants) thriving in our mini garden here in the desert. They did a good job surviving the extreme summer heat, but as expected, not without difficulty.
A couple of the papaya trees had sadly died before they could even bear fruits, as hub has updated on his blog post. The other two on the other hand were more resilient and even bore fruits! For a couple of months, I was bugging the hub to harvest them so I can add them to our dishes. But I was just pulling his leg, of course! :D
The day finally came. My awaited day. He finally harvested the papayas! The trees are not doing too well anymore - the summer heat is just too much to handle. Besides, the fruits, though still green, are mature enough to be harvested.
Pickled Green Papaya (Atchara)
Atchara is a side dish made of green papaya pickled in vinegar and sugar mixture. It is normally served with meat dishes - the greasy, fatty ones - like grills, fried, and the likes. The atchara can clean the palate and yeah, essentially be an appetizer too.
This would be my second try making atchara, though I don't want to count the first one. It was a massive fail. LOL.
This time, I asked for help from my mom. Well, she just told me the ingredients and the how-to, but not the ratio of the ingredients. Hmm, that's tricky, but what to do?!
Well then, let's do this!
Method:
1. First, shred the green papaya and make sure it is properly dehydrated. You can add a dash of salt and leave the papaya overnight. The salt will help in the dehydration process. Squeeze out as much juice as possible. You can use a cheesecloth to help you wring out the juice efficiently. |  |
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Prepare the vegetables. Julienne the capsicum and ginger, while cut the garlic, carrots and turmeric into thin slices. |  |
Boil the vinegar and sugar together. I made sure the sugar is completely dissolved in the vinegar before putting it on the stove. Let the mixture simmer for 10-15 minutes. Avoid stirring the it or else the vinegar won't cook. |  |
| Once the vinegar mixture is cooked, let it cool before adding the vegetable slices. |  |
Add the shredded green papaya. (Do not forget to fish out the turmeric slices.) Our pickle is done. Once completely cooled, keep it in a tightly covered jar. |  |
And that's it! I am so happy with the outcome. Just the right combo of acidity and sweetness.
The atchara is best served after a day to make sure that the papaya has absorbed all the flavor.
I thoroughly enjoyed making this pickled papaya. It brought about lots of memories from my childhood when I used to help out my granny and later on my mom in making this especially ahead of special occasions like fiestas. I remember shredding the green papayas (a lot of it!) with my cousins then we would put it in a big blanket so we can squeeze out the juice.
Really nice memories. Next time I make these, I will make sure to involve my children.
For now, we have a few weeks' worth of atchara in the fridge. My mom jokingly asked me if I were to sell them when I showed her photos of the jarred atchara. Lol.
