Green Papaya Salad – Som Tam

08/12/201318/09/2016 Moya4 Comments

Just back from Phuket in Thailand, a quick blog post and a few pics to keep you up to date. Christmas is around the corner and with a bit of catching up needed, blog posts might be somewhat erratic over the next few weeks. Our trip to Thailand was combined with my husband participating in the Laguna Phuket Challenge and I am well impressed, he completed a 1.9km swim, a 90km bike ride and a 21km run… I guess all that porridge for breakfast had something to do with it!

While hubby was doing some light training before his race, I managed to squeeze in a cookery lesson at the Phuket Thai Cookery School. Although familiar with the recipes being prepared that day, it was good to brush up on balancing the spicy, creamy, salty, sour and sweet tastes of Thai dishes. Almost ten years ago I took my first Thai cookery lesson in Phuket at a different location. With cooking lessons you pick up some great tips, learn about new ingredients and each chef has their own little touches which they like to share.

A quick tour around the local market in Phuket Town was given before class. We prepared a Chicken and Coconut Soup, Green Curry with Chicken, Thai Fried Noodles with Prawns, Green Papaya Salad and Mango with Sticky Rice for dessert… we were all very happily stuffed by the end of the day.

Can’t resist the markets!

It has been quite some time since I made Green Papaya Salad and I had forgotten just how simple and delicious it is. It’s colourful, crunchy, definitely spicy and has a salty-sour taste which can be made a little sweeter, depending on your taste preferences. You could serve this salad alongside a nice piece of grilled salmon or grilled chicken. In Thailand this salad is sometimes served with steamed jasmine rice as a meal.

Green Papaya Salad (Som Tam)

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 bird’s eye chillies
2 tablespoons of dried shrimps, blanched
2 long green beans, cut into 1inch lengths
200g shredded green papaya
3 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1\4 cup of shredded carrot
1 tablespoon palm sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoons of lime juice
2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts

How to make: Pound the garlic, chilies and dried shrimp into a coarse paste using a pestle and mortar.

Add the long beans and pound to crush lightly. Add the green papaya and 1 tablespoon of the roasted peanuts, pound lightly until the papaya becomes a little limp.

Add the carrot and tomatoes and pound very lightly, just enough to bruise the tomatoes.

In a small dish, stir the palm sugar, fish sauce and lime juice together until well blended, then pour over salad. Toss all the ingredients together until well combined. Transfer salad to a serving plate and garnish with remaining tablespoon of roasted peanuts.

Notes: If you cannot find green papaya use cucumber and shred with the skin on, do not include the middle part with the seeds. The dried shrimp can be omitted. As this is a spicy dish you can reduce the amount of chills used. Recipe can easily be doubled and the sweetness and saltiness of the dressing can be adjusted according to taste. Use light brown sugar if palm sugar is not available. This julienne peeler comes in handy when you need to shred vegetables.

Food · food + drink · posts · salads

Baby Spinach Salad with Dates, Oranges, Pomegranate and Feta Cheese with a Spiced Citrus Dressing

01/09/201312/09/2013 Moya4 Comments

When I travel to Ireland and visit family I never feel my visit is quite complete unless I’ve had my day in Dublin. A city that holds many memories, from the time spent as a student at catering college, working various jobs, the meeting of friends and the countless shopping trips. Also, seeking out favourite cafés and restaurants to have a “cup of tea and a bakery bun” or something a little more filling. One place I always love to visit is the mini department store Avoca, almost never leaving empty-handed. I didn’t really need another cookbook… but then again, I must have! A Year at Avoca cookbook is a calendar of the cafés favourite seasonal recipes and my sister says that this is her “feel good cookbook” and I couldn’t agree more. Continue reading “Baby Spinach Salad with Dates, Oranges, Pomegranate and Feta Cheese with a Spiced Citrus Dressing” →

appetizers · food + drink · salads · store cupboard

Fresh Fruit with Chaat Masala

28/04/201328/04/2013 Moya5 Comments

It has taken me a little longer to get around to posting again since returning from my trip to India. This trip was a little different from the usual family holidays… an all girls road trip from Delhi to Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur! We squeezed so much in with lots of sightseeing and visited some truly amazing and memorable places, like the Taj Mahal, Amber Fort, Askshardham Temple and City Palaces, words to describe what you see visually I will leave to the writers and poets of the world! The other side of the coin is that there are families and people in living conditions and surroundings that are less than basic and at times left you feeling a heavy sense of sadness…!

Indian food was on the menu every evening and we had some delicious dining experiences, the most memorable was at the Rambagh Palace Hotel in Jaipur where most of us ate the Rajasthani thali, sampling a variety of dishes from the region. Choosing more wisely at breakfast each morning, I ate some of my favourite fruits, papaya, bananas and pineapple. So, it seems fitting to include a very simple recipe and easy my way back into posting… with a little spice!

Fruit Chaat is a very popular street food in India, fresh fruit served with a mix of spices called chaat masala, giving the fruit a sweet, sour and spicy taste. Chaat masala is also used in salads like this easy cucumber salad and some savoury dishes like Aloo chaat, a savoury potato dish.

There are many recipes for chaat masala and the only ingredient I could not find was mango powder (amchoor) as it was out of stock, so I bought some dried pomegranate seeds instead. The packaged version of chaat masala contained black salt (kala namak) which gave a very sulfurous eggy taste to this spice mix and was not something I liked with the fruit. However, this post on black salt may change my mind, when I get around to trying some with fried potatoes! Fruit chaat could be served as a light starter before an Indian dish like Dal Makhani, a very popular lentil dish.

With a little experimenting I wanted a simpler version of this spice blend, the packet version had 19 ingredients! Lulu hypermarkets in Bahrain stock a range of spice mixes and of course not forgetting the spices from the Manama souk. If chaat masala seems a little much to start sprinkling over your fruit, try mixing a little black pepper with some chilli powder or just keep it plain and simple… lime juice and fresh mint.

Chaat Masala

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried pomegranate seeds
2 teaspoon whole coriander seeds or cumin
1/2 teaspoon ajowan seeds
a pinch of Himalayan salt or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground Kashmiri chilli

for the fruit salad

1 papaya, peeled and cut into cubes
1 pineapple, skin removed and cut into pieces
3 bananas, peeled and sliced
4 small limes, juiced (more to taste)
a handful of chopped fresh mint leaves

How to make: Use a pestle and mortar and ground together the black peppercorns, dried pomegranate seeds, coriander seeds or cumin, ajowan seeds and a pinch of Himalayan or sea salt into a fine powder, mix in the Kashmiri chilli. Store the spice mix in a small container until needed.

Place the prepared fruit into a bowl, pour over the lime juice and add the mint, gently mix until combined. Place into a serving bowl or individual dishes and scatter over some chaat masala. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Note: The papaya and pineapple can be prepared in advance but leave the bananas before serving as they discolor quickly when sliced.