A Minty, Gingery Frozen Papaya Delight

Monday, January 14th, 2008

Filed Under Desserts, Ginger, Papaya 

I have eaten a lot of papayas in my life. Back home in Kerala, we had plenty of papaya trees in our backyard. They didn’t need any special care or attention; you eat a papaya, throw the seeds out into the backyard, boom.. the next season there are a bunch of new papaya plants sprouting out. During the season, mom would make a variety of dishes with green papayas and we used to eat a lot of those ripe too. I love the crunchy texture of the semi-ripe papaya, but at the same time I prefer the sweetness of the overripe ones. To combine the two, we used to cut up the ripe papayas into cubes and freeze them - crunchy sweet papaya cubes, best of both worlds!

When Papaya was picked as the fruit of the month by my hometown gal Nags of For the Cook in Me, I had grand ideas as usual… I picked up a fully ripe papaya last week without any specific recipe in mind.  But it was a bad week to pick up a random perishable ingredient, we had way too many things going on last week. The only day I cooked, I had to cook up a feast, it was Siv’s birthday, and I made all his favorite items. Needless to say, I couldn’t fit a ripe papaya into any of his favorite dishes.

So, the weekend came, and I had to think of something fast to use up the poor papaya waiting for it’s destiny in my fridge. The first idea I thought of was to cut it up and freeze the cubes like we used to. But I couldn’t send that as an entry, and show my face around the foodie community, could I? So, I decided to make an infused sugar syrup to coat the papaya pieces and then freeze them… As long as I used my stove, I can get away with calling it a recipe, right?

But as fate had other plans, I had to use one more kitchen appliance along the way, increasing the authenticity of calling this a “recipe“. Instead of frozen papaya cubes as I had originally planned, I made a papaya puree, using a hand blender as my second appliance. I was in a hurry, so I didn’t wait to cool my sugar syrup completely before mixing the cubed papayas. The hot syrup on the ripe papaya cubes produced some thick juice from the papayas. The liquid tasted so good, so much better than the syrup coated papaya cubes, I decided to make the whole thing into a thick puree to totally integrate all the good stuff that went into my sugar syrup infusion. With the addition of the blender, this is a recipe for sure…

Wow, that is a long-winded introduction for a simple dish, huh? Let me get into the recipe without any further delay..

Frozen papaya delight

Ingredients

Method

In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, ginger and cardamom pods and bring to a boil. Cook to reduce the liquid down to about 1/4 of a cup, stirring occasionally. Switch off the stove, add the torn mint leaves to the liquid, mix well, and keep it closed for about 5 minutes. Pass the liquid through a fine sieve, while pressing down with the back of a heavy wooden spoon to get the juices out completely.

Combine the papaya cubes with the sugar syrup, and puree coarsely with a hand blender or in the food processor. I left a bunch of chunky pieces in mine, just because the outer part of the papaya was very firm, and wouldn’t puree with my hand blender. I was too lazy to bring the food processor out, but I thought the chunky pieces added a nice touch to the dish. Transfer to serving bowls, cover and freeze for about 2 hours to form a papaya slush. If freezing for more than three hours, thaw it to soften a bit before serving.

Sending this to Nags of For the Cook in Me who is hosting this month’s A fruit A Month event. This event is the brainchild of Maheswari of Beyond the Usual.


Comments

36 Responses to “A Minty, Gingery Frozen Papaya Delight”

  1. Kaykat on January 14th, 2008 11:26 pm

    Whoa lady! This looks delicious!

    I’m not a ripe papaya fan by any means, but I’ve read this recipe thrice already! Ok, I’m definitely trying this one out. Unbelievable :)

    If you are not a papaya fan, try this with mango or pineapple… I’m sure it will be even more delicious :)

  2. Suganya on January 14th, 2008 11:34 pm

    I have those dizzy cocktail glasses too ;)

    I know… I remember seeing these in your blog… those are so versatile, dont you think? Only problem is these are too small for cocktails and one ends up refilling multiple times ;)

  3. Nags on January 14th, 2008 11:58 pm

    thank you so much for your beautiful entry :) rock on sig!

    My pleasure Nags, I bought ripe papaya after a looong time!

  4. sia on January 15th, 2008 12:30 am

    lol sig… u crack me up… the end result is so good. i feel like having this even when the temp here is in -ve degrees :(Yes):

    Thanks sups, it is pretty cold here too.. but I can have frozen treats any time of the year :)

  5. Srivalli on January 15th, 2008 2:38 am

    Hey Sig..lovely shot…looks great

    Thanks Srivalli! :)

  6. sunita on January 15th, 2008 3:09 am

    I’d loove to have this anytime…ripe papayas are one of my favourites.

    Thanks Sunita… If you love papayas, the ginger, mint and cardamom will sure make it a little tastier :)

  7. Padmaja on January 15th, 2008 3:17 am

    Sig!! Amazing!!! Love the picture!! its looks perfect and your frozen papaya delight looks so vibrant!!

    Thanks Padamaja :)

  8. rachel on January 15th, 2008 3:25 am

    papayas not my food :(No): adore your presentation and the writing :smile:

    hmmm..what kind of mallu are you :D ..

  9. indosungod on January 15th, 2008 4:33 am

    Sig, looks absolutely lovely, but not for me. I am not a papaya fan :(

    there are a bunch of you out there huh? Papaya haters :)

  10. Happy Cook on January 15th, 2008 5:31 am

    Looks delicious. I love ripe papaya but never made a drink from it. And anyway i checked the shops here don’t have any papayas not at this time of the year.

    It’s really not a drink, more like a dessert :)

  11. Rajitha on January 15th, 2008 7:09 am

    yummy drink…great pic and lovely glasses…boy! am i seething here ;)..and where is my entry maam…

    Its coming…as soon as I find someone who will actually eat my soy creation ;)

  12. richa on January 15th, 2008 7:30 am

    lovely shot :) the drink sounds d-lish with all those yum spices & herbs, a must try.
    i’ve grown up eating papaya for brkfast, my parents still hv it, while the dotr has graduated to some boxed cereal :mad: can never get a good papaya where i live!!!

    :) papaya for breakfast, now there’s an idea… it will beat the cereal any day, don’t you think? :)

  13. sra on January 15th, 2008 8:09 am

    hmm … have never been a fan of ripe papaya in anything tho’ I love it by itself … am waiting for the round-up

    yeah, i have never made anything with ripe papaya either, but blog events make you do weird stuff :)

  14. Manasi on January 15th, 2008 8:56 am

    :razz: Looks so good!! U make the ordinary papaya sound so good!!!
    Love the glasses!

    :) Thanks Manasi…

  15. Rina on January 15th, 2008 11:40 am

    Hey, Sig, aren’t sending this to click for this month’s theme - liquid delights.. :?: Love the drink. :(Flower):

    It’s not a liquid Rina, it is a really thick icy slushy dessert :)

  16. Laavanya on January 15th, 2008 12:07 pm

    I know what you mean with a boom of papaya plants. We had the same thing going at home and my dad would have papaya everyday… maybe because they were so readily available, i never cared for them. But the flavours going into this drink sounds great!

    :) I used to have so much papaya but somehow I used to love those… :) but I couldn’t eat those everyday for sure :)

  17. Pooja on January 15th, 2008 12:36 pm

    Oh !!! Thats why i see papaya recipeson all blogs :cool: . Just wondered why everyone is amzingly cooking with papaya :)) , so the reason behind that is AFAM.
    good choice though , and yours is a perfect entry fo that event too !
    thanks for sharing Sig :smile:.

    :) yep, AFAM is going on… better get on it with a papaya dish soon… :)

  18. Shankari on January 15th, 2008 1:27 pm

    Not a fan papaya, but I love those glasses :razz:

    :) thanks Shankari… :)

  19. Reena on January 15th, 2008 1:28 pm

    What? No Alcohol? :(:(

    I know I already told you this but your blog looks very stylish and professional now. Love it!

    :D Thanks Reenuuu… I actually forgot about alocohol, can you believe it? :D

  20. shilpa on January 15th, 2008 8:14 pm

    Hee…no booze in it Sig?? Are u sure u didn’t sneak in some :mrgreen: ?
    Love the picture Sig. How did you make the second glass black and white? It looks gorgeous….

    :D As I told Reena, I actually didn’t think of alcohol!!! I might be getting old, huh? :D .. .The black and white is just an effect in Picassa… :) I didnt like the picture too much and wanted to do something to it :)

  21. Raaga on January 15th, 2008 11:18 pm

    This is a joint effort by Sig and me, Nags… ;-)

    Sig… you should have just added my name na.

    Looks delish

    :) lol, really? that is a great idea though… we should form a partnership and we can cover the double the events… Please, take the WBB-Soy… :D I am struggling with that one ;)

  22. Meeta on January 16th, 2008 2:09 am

    Oooh yeah! My queen of drinks and desserts. This would go in for both. I’ll one for dessert and one to drink please and also a few for in between!

    :D It was more of a dessert than drink… I could try a drink with this next time though… and of course add some much needed alcohol ;)

  23. Shantanu on January 16th, 2008 8:14 am

    Nice! I remember papayas from childhood too, but from Mysore.

    :) I guess certain fruits like mangoes and papayas are part of most Indian childhoods

  24. Swati Jain:Sugarcraft India on January 16th, 2008 9:40 am

    Great drink …new to me …this does need a try girl!!
    Hey, you’ve been tagged…do hv a look at my blog!!

    Thanks swati… I’ve already been tagged for that one, will do it soon… :)

  25. sagari on January 16th, 2008 10:43 am

    frozen papaya very nice recipe sig pic looks beautiful

    Thanks Sagari! :)

  26. Namratha on January 16th, 2008 2:33 pm

    Oh wow, this has got to be the best papaya drink I’ve come across, looks awesome Sig..love it!!

    Thanks Namratha!

  27. Susan from Food Blogga on January 16th, 2008 4:24 pm

    ooh, I’ll have one please. :wink:

    :) sure, anytime Susan, come over to Seattle…

  28. padma on January 16th, 2008 6:28 pm

    This looks so delicious and Papaya had lotsa health benefits, either raw or the fruit itself. Didi u ever tried to rub some papaya fruit pulp on your face, it give a natural glow to our skin, juz rub the pulp and massage with it for few mins and let it dry, rinse with cold water and check the difference…

    :(Martini):

    Wow, I didn’t know that… I will try it next time… :)

  29. rachel on January 17th, 2008 3:24 am

    huh! am not a papaya fan :smile: ..What kind of mallu falls into that category??? :???:

  30. Rajitha on January 17th, 2008 5:36 am

    no..u can’t outsource soy :mad: …waiting for ur entry sweetie :nerd: ha ha!!

    Hey, did I mention I am allergic to soy? :)

  31. Bharathy on January 18th, 2008 9:07 am

    Mmmuah!
    the cocktail lady back into action! :)..Surprisingly this girl wonder can even turn papayas to mocktail!!!Cheers!!!

  32. Bharathy on January 18th, 2008 9:09 am

    :nerd: …pls read it as… Surprisingly this wonder girl can even turn papayas to mocktail.. :(Martini):

  33. Bharathy on January 18th, 2008 9:12 am

    ..OOPS!!…Belated birthday Greetings to SIV..How come I dont see any greetings up?? :sealed:

  34. musy on January 18th, 2008 10:18 am

    Hey Sig, that’s so totally refreshing! We still have papaya trees back home, always fun to have home grown, fresh papayas :) and i love your idea of freezing papaya cubes too :idea:

  35. Rajitha on January 19th, 2008 9:59 am

    :evil: :mad: :sleepy: :cry: :sad:

  36. Ramya on January 21st, 2008 3:03 pm

    OMG!!!! it looks heavenly!!! And you can never go wrong with the pic…. It looks gr8! :(Yes):

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