Pungent Green Papaya with Mustard and Chiles

The bitter flavor in this curry (khaar means “bitter”) comes from baking powder, which helps to break down the vegetable and blanket it with a thick, slightly chalky sauce. Mustard oil and mustard seeds both augment that bitterness, chiles balance it with gentle heat, and they all come together with the juicy bite of tender, cooked green papaya. Monica Kataky told me she could eat this every day, and she did, growing up in Assam. A compound extracte