Plastic Chutney Recipe | Kachche Papite Ki Chutney Recipe | Bengali Style Raw Papaya Chutney Recipe

Continuing the series on Bengali Vegetarian dishes, I bring to you, dear readers, a tongue tapping side dish called Plastic Chutney. This chutney is made with raw papaya and has a very unique texture . I don't know why this Chutney came to be called Plastic Chutney. I assume it must have been to do with the thinly sliced papaya slices, used in this Chutney and their close resemblance to small pieces of plastic sheets. Even my Ma and aunts think the same. I am yet to come across either a folk lore or any history associated with this nomenclature. If any of you my valued readers know how this chutney came to be called Plastic Chutney please leave me a comment on this post and I will happily include the trivia. 

Whatever maybe the story behind its nomenclature, the Plastic Chutney is sure to leave you asking for more, once these glistening see through papaya slices, seeped in saccharine and lemon drops land on your tongue. The flavour burst is sure to evade all your senses. As a child I loved biting into these delicate papaya slices in all their yumminess and my love saga for Plastic Chutney continues to this day. You will never know its raw papaya once the final outcome of the dish is achieved. The transformation that the oft perceived boring raw papaya, undergoes in this dish is a pure delight not only visually but also to your taste buds.

My fascination for the rainbow often translates and seeps through into my cooking too. I love my dishes to be radiant and colourful. Plastic Chutney is commonly white in colour. But I love this hint of saffron in my chutney which gives it a golden glow. You are however free to go with the purists or add your own dash of imagination to the Chutney. Whatever colour play you do with this, does not make any difference to how it tastes, which remains constant.  

This is fairly a very simple chutney to make once you have got the grip on cutting the papaya slices super thin. This should not pose a problem, given all the gadgets that we have, to aid us in our cooking. If you make potato chips,wafers at home where you need really fine slices of potato, then this should be a breeze for you. You can use the same slicer to slice the papaya. I use a knife and slice the papaya thin which is fairly simple once you know how to go about it.

So follow my step by step pictorial guide on how to cut the raw papaya from a whole to the very thin slices, the main requisite for this dish. You should easily be able to do it and I am always ready to answer your queries happily if any. So lets get started on another family dish of mine right away.

Chutneys of different types like tomato chutney, pineapple chutney, date and tomato chutney, mango leather chutney etc. are normally served with a Bengali meal. Chutney forms an integral side dish in Bengali Cuisine and is not just savoured as a dip only, by Bengalis.

Plastic Chutney Recipe | Kachche Papite Ki Chutney Recipe | Bengali Style Raw Papaya Chutney Recipe ~

YIELDS : 200 GMS OF CHUTNEY

CUISINE : INDIAN /BENGALI

TYPE : SIDE DISH, DIP, CHUTNEY

TIME : 20 MINUTES PREPARATION + 30 MINUTES COOKING 

INGREDIENTS :

1) 250 Gms approximately weighing Raw Green Papaya /  Kachche Papita

2) 1 Cup (250 Gms) of Sugar

3) 2 Tbsp seedless Raisin / Kishmish

4) 8~10 strands of Saffron soaked in 1 Tbsp of warm milk or water (OPTIONAL)

5) 1 Tsp Lemon zest

6) 1 Tbsp Lemon juice

7) 1/2 Tsp Salt

FOR TEMPERING :

1) 2 Tsp Oil

2) 1 Tsp Fennel Seeds / Saunf

3) 3 ~ 4 Dry Red Chilies torn into small pieces.

THIS IS HOW YOU MAKE Plastic Chutney | Kachche Papite Ki Chutney | Bengali Style Raw Papaya Chutney ~

1) Wash the raw papaya thoroughly and slice off the top.

• Peel off the skin of the raw papaya totally using a peeler. 
• Slice the papaya lengthwise into two equal halves. 
• Cut each half , lengthwise, again into two equal halves.
• Then again cut each of the slices of papaya you have now into equal halves lengthwise.

2) Take each of the slices and using a peeler peel off the entire coarse core of the papaya, until you are left only with the smooth fleshy part.

• Chop off the narrow top of your individual papaya slices and start slicing into super thin slices from the portion from where the the papaya is evenly thick. 
• Chop up the entire papaya into paper thin slices.

3) In a pan take water. Add the sugar. 

• The quantity of water to sugar should be in the ratio 2 : 1. In this case I used 2 Cups of Water to 1 Cup of sugar. 
• Turn the heat to high and bring the contents of the pan to a rolling boil.
• Add the papaya slices now , mix well and cook covered. 
• Let the papaya slices cook for 5 minutes, soften a little, then add salt, mix and again cook covered.

4) Once the papaya slices have cooked completely, which you can know by pressing a slice of papaya with your spatula. If it cuts through into two your papaya is cooked and you can add the saffron along with the milk or water used for soaking the saffron in. You can skip adding saffron to go with the traditional white coloured papaya chutney. Alternately you can use yellow food colour also.

• Add the lemon zest and mix. Simmer the heat and let everything in the pan cook till almost all the water has evaporated and your chutney reaches a thick consistency. No need to cover the pan now.

5) While the Chutney is simmering away to reach its final consistency, prepare the tempering. Take a separate small pan. Heat oil and when hot add the fennel seeds and dry red chillies. 

• Let them crackle.Once they become fragrant add the resins and let them become plump. 
• Remove from the burner and keep aside ready to use.

6) Add the tempering to the chutney. Stir and mix. 

• You can simmer everything for a minute before removing your pan from the burner.
• Transfer the chutney from the pan into a bowl.
• Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Your Plastic Chutney is ready. You can store the chutney in an airtight container once completely cooled and refrigerate. This chutney can remain for weeks if you prevent the chutney jar from cross contamination.

Enjoy your Plastic Chutney as a side dish with your rice, roti and curry meals. They make for an excellent accompaniment with your parathas and a wonder dip with fiery snacks and appetizers. 

STEP BY STEP PICTORIAL PROCEDURE ON MAKING Plastic Chutney | Kachche Papite Ki Chutney | Bengali Style Raw Papaya Chutney ~

1) Wash the raw papaya thoroughly and slice off the top.

Peel off the skin of the raw papaya totally using a peeler.

Slice the papaya lengthwise into two equal halves.

Cut each half , lengthwise, again into two equal halves.

Then again cut each of the slices of papaya you have now into equal halves lengthwise. Refer picture below.

2) Take each of the slices and using a peeler peel off the entire coarse core of the papaya, until you are left only with the smooth fleshy part.

Refer to the picture below to see how your papaya should look before you start slicing it into thin slices.

Chop off the narrow top of your individual papaya slices and start slicing into super thin slices from the portion from where the the papaya is evenly thick.

Chop up the entire papaya into paper thin slices. Refer to the picture on how your papaya slices should look. The paper thin slices are the key to this chutney, so try to achieve paper thin slices as much as possible.

3) In a pan take water. Add the sugar. 

The quantity of water to sugar should be in the ratio 2 : 1. In this case I used 2 Cups of Water to 1 Cup of sugar.

Turn the heat to high and bring the contents of the pan to a rolling boil.

Add the papaya slices now , mix well and cook covered.

Let the papaya slices cook for 5 minutes, soften a little, then add salt, mix and again cook covered.

4) Once the papaya slices have cooked completely, which you can know by pressing a slice of papaya with your spatula. If it cuts through into two your papaya is cooked and you can add the saffron along with the milk or water used for soaking the saffron in. You can skip adding saffron to go with the traditional white coloured papaya chutney. Alternately you can use yellow food colour also.

Add the lemon zest and mix. Simmer the heat and let everything in the pan cook till almost all the water has evaporated and your chutney reaches a thick consistency. No need to cover the pan now.

5) While the Chutney is simmering away to reach its final consistency, prepare the tempering. Take a separate small pan. Heat oil and when hot add the fennel seeds and dry red chillies. Let them crackle.

Let them crackle.Once they become fragrant add the resins and let them become plump. 

Remove from the burner and keep aside ready to use.

6) Add the tempering to the chutney. Stir and mix. 

You can simmer everything for a minute before removing your pan from the burner.

Transfer the chutney from the pan into a bowl.

Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Your Plastic Chutney is ready. You can store the chutney in an airtight container once completely cooled and refrigerate. This chutney can remain for weeks if you prevent the chutney jar from cross contamination.

Enjoy your Plastic Chutney as a side dish with your rice, roti and curry meals. They make for an excellent accompaniment with your parathas and a wonder dip with fiery snacks and appetizers.