Peper Jhal – Green Papaya with chickpeas in a poppyseed sauce
I have been generally mourning the fact that this year spring passed us by. What is the point of winter, if there is no spring? I have decided to welcome summer with nostalgic childhood recipes. I have been too busy lately to peruse blogs, but I did come across one that caught my attention. Actually more specifically this recipe for peper jhal. It was unique to me. A jhal is a spiced curry in Bengali parlance, the term jhal literally refers to spice as in chili peppers. In this preparation the dish is delicately spiced with ginger and black pepper. Once I saw it, I quickly added green papaya to my weekend H-Mart run.
Why Green Papaya with Chickpeas story
Such is the power of a familiar calling. On the Bengali table, when we adopt something, we love it raw and ripe. This is true of the banana and certainly in this case the papaya. The unripe fruits are usually cooked in a savory form and the ripe variations are enjoyed as fruit.
My simple addition to this dish was to add some fresh mint and finish off with a squirt of lime juice. The mint is back in the garden and I could not resist celebrating its return by liberally adding it to almost everything that I made over the weekend. On occasion I have simply been pulling out a couple of leaves and bruising them to savor their hauntingly delicate fragrance. The fun thing about mint is that it is so plentiful, you can enjoy it and play with it without feeling guilty or wasteful.
This recipe uses whole chickpeas soaked overnight, so the final product does not have super soft and mushy chickpeas. This gives this an interesting contrast of textures, balancing the softness of the green papaya with the chickpeas. Try it over steamed rice and for super simple cooking use the instant pot like me.
An interesting recipe with ripe papaya is this ripe papaya recipe.
If you like this recipe and want more ideas, do join my Indian Instant Pot Facebook group and Legume Love Group. Of course Instant Indian is ready for pre-order, joining its siblings The Bengali Five Spice Chronicles and Spices and Seasons.
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A beautiful summer time creation pairing green papaya with chickpeas.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds (posto or khus khus)
- 2 tablespoon mustard or canola oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 2 dried red chilies
- 2 cups of green papaya (peeled and cubed) I use a small 3/4 pound green papaya
- 1/2 cup dry chickpeas soaked overnigh
- 2 teaspoons black pepper coarsely ground
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (optional)
Instructions
- Instant Pot Instructions
- Grind the poppy seeds to a powder using a spice or coffee grinder. Soak in 1/4 cup water and set aside.
- Turn the instant pot to the saute mode. Add in the mustard oil and heat for a minute. Add in the bay leaves, whole cumin seeds, ginger and dried red chilies and stir well.
- Add in the green papaya and the chickpeas, with the sugar and salt.
- Turn off the saute mode. Add in 1/2 cup of water.
- Cover and set on 3 minutes of pressure. Do a quick release.
- Set back to saute mode. Stir in the poppy seed paste and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the instant pot. Mix in the mint leaves and the lime juice if using.
- Stove Top Instructions
- Follow the steps for sauteing as described in the instant pot method. Add about 3/4 cups of water and cover and cook for 15 minutes until the papaya is tender. Stir in the poppy seed paste and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the instant pot. Mix in the mint leaves and the lime juice if using.