Papaya Jam Turned Halwa

My (Jaya) periamma made this when she visited us (long ago while I was still in school). As always we had an abundance of Papaya since they were kind of overtaking our garden at one point and only my dad did justice to them. I just couldn't stand papaya but this jam that periamma made was just perfect in everyway... I couldn't believe that it was made with papaya and ate bowlfuls of it plain. When I saw Viji post yet another of her lipsmacking jam recipes and saw Papaya, i was reminded of periamma's version and decided to make it. I thought that I'd try it in the microwave but I must've gone wrong somewhere since I ended up, not with a smooth jam, but a slightly crystallized sweet which my husband promptly declared was Halwa. Another friend of ours who popped by that day, tasted and also liked it a lot and was like... "what sweet is this?, it's very good..." and it was gone in no time.

PAPAYA JAM


Ingredients:
Papaya - 1 small, ripe
Sugar - amount based on papaya puree

Method:
1) Microwave the peeled and cubed papaya pieces with a bit of water till soft. Mash them. I think my periamma may have pureed it in a blender and that may have affected the consistency too. Mine wasn't as smooth.

2) Measure the mashed amount of papaya and add to a large microwaveable bowl. Measure out an equal amount of sugar (it's pretty sweet this way, if you're going to eat it plain, you can reduce the sugar a bit) and add to the bowl as well.

3) Microwave it in 3 to 5 minute increments until thick and pasty, stirring every 3 minutes atleast. It didn't take very long for me - about 12 to 15 minutes.