- Preethi C.Vijay
Som Tum/ Green Papaya Salad
Som tum is a popular Thai salad made with green papaya, spicy chili pepper and fish sauce dressing. Its a popular street food dish in Bangkok and the whole process is made using a mortar and pestle, but then if you do not have it you can make it using a food processor. The main beauty of this dish is shredding the papaya. You can do that with help of your sharp knife by deeply scoring the flesh, then run your knife just under the surface to release the shreds and continue the same process, else a large grater will work too.

Ingredients
Julienned green papaya - 1 1/2 cups
Garlic 2 cloves
Ripe chillies 2
Palm sugar 1 1/2 tablespoon
Long beans 2 cut into pieces
Roasted peanuts 4 tablespoon
Dried shrimp 2 tablespoon
Lemon juice 2 tablespoon
Tamarind juice 2 tablespoon
Fish sauce 2 teaspoons
Tomato cut into wedges
How to Start
Julienne or grate the papaya as mentioned above. Soak the papaya in ice cold water for 10 to 15 minutes until it turns firm. Drain the soaked papaya well.
In a mortar and pestle, pound garlic and chilies until they are mashed well. Now add palm sugar and until it turns into a thick paste. Add long beans and pound until they are broken
Add dried shrimp, peanuts and slightly break the peanuts. Now add fish sauce, tamarind juice, and lime juice, and mix well.

Transfer this mixture into a wide bowl and add shredded papaya and tomatoes. Mix well and pound a little so that the tomato releases its juice. Sprinkle some more peanuts on top and serve fresh.