• last year
It is Papaya season, and papaya trees are laden with fruit everywhere. The older Aunt's papaya harvest didn't receive much demand because of the time of year. The older uncle is not interested in taking them to the market and instead waits for someone to come and pick them up from the garden. Papayas ripen in the trees themselves as a result of this. I went there early in the morning to gather some papaya because I needed to prepare lunch. Such a sight to behold, the fruits are glistening like yellow and orange bulbs in every fresh tree. Since the fruits are so huge, picking just five of them fills the basket to the brim. In addition to the ripe papaya, I also picked raw papaya before leaving for home.


In Sri Lanka's rural settlements, a unique variety of papaya was grown. They had a stunning deep red colour(We call it "Rathna Papol"), which made them quite lovely. Eventually, they improved the quality and flavour of these Sri Lankan beauties by combining them with a hybrid Malaysian variety, naming the new hybrid Red Lady when it hit the market. In those days, the papayas in our hamlet had a very thin outer peel, which made it so that the fruit was easily injured by even the slightest collision. Even on a long journey, it was incredibly challenging to transport the fruits because of how delicate they were. With a significantly thicker outer covering that covers the softer inner juicy flesh, the new hybrid breed is very different from earlier generations. The outer skin of this new kind won't be harmed by being kept on the market for prolonged periods of time. This particular hybrid papaya cultivar was grown by my Older Uncle.


I cut one of the papayas from my older Aunt's yard and presented it to my Grandmother and my brother as well. When you eat the papaya's ripe flesh, sprinkle a few drops of lime juice over it for the finest flavour enhancement. Afterwards, I made a papaya musket by scooping the flesh from 1 1/2 large papayas. I follow one of my many unique recipes to make this sweet, slurpy papaya musket. Making balls out of the musket and adding cashew pieces and pan-roasted sago is definitely a pleasure when paired with a cup of strong milk tea without sugar.
While they were still not quite mature and the skin was already turning dark orange, the remaining three papaya fruits were stored in my tiny pink kitchen to continue to ripen. The raw papaya fruit I had brought in the morning would be used to make a different kind of pickle, I determined. This particular kind of pickle is well-known in the southern part of Sri Lanka, where it dominates the lunch and dinner tables at any celebratory gathering. At Weligama Aunt's place, I frequently ate this variety of pickles. In fact, I learnt to make this pickle when I was at my Aunt’s house. Considering that this pickle is being created in a slightly dipped in boiled vinegar and with less mustard, it is hardly at all spicy, but the flavor is incredible.

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