This delicious vegan recipe for Thai Green Papaya Salad is everything you could possibly want from a salad: crunchy, sweet, sour, spicy and salty
Ingredients
For Tamarind Water
- ▢½ teaspoon tamarind – dried
- ▢2 tablespoons water
Other Ingredients
- ▢2.5 cups shredded unripe papaya – 400 grams
- ▢½ teaspoon chopped garlic or 2 medium garlic cloves
- ▢3 to 4 bird’s eye chillies can add less or more as required
- ▢1 tomato – small sized or 2 to 3 cherry tomatoes
- ▢2 to 3 long beans or green beans – optional
- ▢2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
- ▢2 tablespoons soy sauce – naturally brewed or fermented
- ▢2 tablespoons palm sugar or add as required
- ▢2 tablespoons lemon juice or add as required
- ▢sea salt as per taste
For Garnish
- ▢1 tablespoon chopped roasted peanuts or crushed peanuts
- ▢1 to 2 tablespoons cilantro – optional
Instructions
Making Tamarind Water
- For tamarind water, soak the dried tamarind in the hot water for 15 to 20 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind and add the pulp to the water. Set aside.
Grating Green Papaya
- Rinse, pat dry and peel the unripe green papaya. Halve it vertically. Remove any of the tiny white seeds and pith. Grate or shred using a food processor or a box grater.
Making Salad Dressing
- In a mortar, take the birds eye chillies and garlic cloves. Using a pestle and mortar, mash the bird’s eye chilies and garlic together. If using long beans, then add 2 to 3 beans (chopped) at this step.
- Add the prepared tamarind water, palm sugar, soy sauce, lemon juice and sea salt as needed to the mortar. Mash and mix everything to a loose paste.
- Add chopped tomato or halved cherry tomatoes. Mash the tomatoes a bit, but not too much.
Making Papaya Salad
- Pour dressing mixture in the bowl containing the shredded papaya. Mix very well and mash a bit to soften the unripe papaya. Check the taste and add more salt, palm sugar, lemon juice, crushed bird’s eye chillies or tamarind pulp if needed.
How to Make Green Papaya Salad
Make Tamarind Water
1. For tamarind water, soak ½ teaspoon dried tamarind in 2 tablespoons hot water for 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Squeeze the tamarind with clean fingers and add the pulp to the water in the bowl. Set aside.
Grate Papaya
3. Rinse, pat dry and peel small to medium green papaya (400 grams). Halve it vertically. Remove any of the tiny white seeds and pith. Grate or shred using a food processor or a box grater.
Make Green Papaya Salad Dressing
4. In a mortar, take 3 to 4 small bird’s eye chillies, roughly chopped and 2 medium garlic cloves.
5. Using a pestle and mortar, mash the bird’s eye chilies and garlic together. If using long beans, then add 2 to 3 beans (chopped) at this step.
6. Add the following savory ingredients. Mash and mix everything to a loose paste.
- prepared tamarind water or ½ to 1 tablespoon packaged tamarind sauce (adjust depending on the sourness)
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar (replace with brown sugar or coconut sugar or white sugar)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce (or tamari for a gluten-free dressing)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- sea salt as needed (or kosher salt, Himalayan pink salt or edible food grade rock salt)
7. Add 1 small chopped tomato or 3 to 4 halved cherry tomatoes.
8. Mash the tomatoes a bit, but not too much.
Make Green Papaya Salad
9. Pour this mixture in the bowl containing the shredded papaya.
10. Mix very well and mash a bit to soften the unripe papaya. Check the taste and add more salt, palm sugar, lemon juice, crushed bird’s eye chillies or tamarind pulp if needed.
11. Serve garnished with 1 tablespoon chopped or crushed roasted peanuts and 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (coriander leaves). Enjoy!
Fork & Beans 