Tamarind is the sticky, sweet-sour pulp inside the pods of a tropical tree. Soaked and strained, it sours curries, soups, chutneys, drinks and sauces from India and Thailand to Mexico.
What it is¶
Tamarind is a large, long-lived tropical tree in the pea family. Its brown, knobbly pods, 5–15 cm long, have a brittle shell around a sticky brown pulp threaded with fibres and wrapped around hard, shiny seeds. The pulp is one of the most acidic fruits eaten, thanks mainly to tartaric acid, yet it is also very sugary — hence the sweet-sour character.
There are two broad types:
- Sour tamarind, the usual cooking kind, sold as pressed blocks or as paste.
- Sweet tamarind, grown especially in Thailand, which is eaten as a fruit straight from the pod.
The name comes from Arabic tamr hindī, "Indian date", from the way Arab traders encountered it — although the tree is thought to be native to tropical Africa, not India.
Origins and history¶
Tamarind appears to have spread from Africa to India in prehistoric times, and it has been part of South Asian cooking and medicine for so long that it was once assumed to be native there. Arab and Persian traders knew it well in the medieval period, and from them it reached European pharmacies as a laxative and cooling drink.
The Spanish and Portuguese carried it to the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries, where it became established in Mexico, the Caribbean and Brazil. It entered British cooking by a side door: tamarind is an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce, first sold by Lea & Perrins in the 1830s, and in HP Sauce.
Flavour and aroma¶
Good tamarind tastes intensely fruity and sour, with a background sweetness and flavours of dates, dried apricots, prunes and a slight caramel. It is less sharp than lemon or vinegar and much rounder, with a body that thickens sauces a little. Commercial concentrate is darker, more bitter and more one-dimensionally sour, often from being boiled down.
In the kitchen¶
Preparing tamarind from a block¶
- Break off 30 g (a piece the size of a walnut or a little larger).
- Soak in 100 ml just-boiled water for 15–20 minutes.
- Squeeze and mash it with your fingers, then push through a sieve, scraping the underside.
- Discard seeds and fibre. You get roughly 4–5 tbsp of paste, equivalent to about 1 tbsp of shop concentrate.
Uses¶
- South India: sambar and rasam, both soured with tamarind; puliyodarai (tamarind rice); and many fish curries. See sambar-powder.
- North India: sweet tamarind chutney (imli ki chutney, made with jaggery, ginger, cumin and fennel) for samosas and chaat.
- Thailand: pad thai sauce (tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar), sour gaeng som curry and dipping sauces. See thai-cuisine.
- Malaysia and Indonesia: assam laksa and asam fish dishes.
- The Philippines: sinigang soup is traditionally soured with young tamarind.
- Mexico and the Caribbean: agua de tamarindo (a cold drink), chilli-coated tamarind sweets, and glazes for meat.
- Barbecue and glazes: a spoonful adds depth to barbecue sauces and marinades.
💡 Taste as you go
Tamarind varies enormously in strength. Add it in stages, simmering for a few minutes between additions, and balance with sugar and salt. Sourness that seems harsh often just needs a pinch more sugar.
Buying and storing¶
Blocks of pulp keep for a year or more, wrapped, in a cool cupboard; they may dry out but still soften in hot water. Once opened, keep concentrate in the fridge. Homemade paste keeps about a week in the fridge; freeze extra in ice-cube trays.
Substitutes¶
Lime juice sweetened with a little brown sugar is the usual substitute (about 1 tbsp lime juice and ½ tsp sugar per tbsp of tamarind paste). amchur works in dry dishes. anardana or pomegranate molasses give a fruity sourness. In Worcestershire-style sauces, a mix of lemon juice and chopped dates is surprisingly close.
Pairs well with¶
Jaggery and palm sugar, fish sauce, coconut, chickpeas, lentils, fish, prawns, pork, chillies, garlic, ginger, cumin, fennel seed, mustard seed, curry-leaves, asafoetida and lemongrass.
Health and safety¶
Tamarind itself is widely eaten and safe in culinary amounts. However, some imported tamarind-based sweets, particularly chilli-and-tamarind candies from Mexico, have repeatedly been found to contain lead, and US authorities have issued warnings and recalls over them; the lead has been traced variously to chilli powder, contaminated processing and glazed pottery or wrappers. Buy from reputable brands. See lead-in-spices.