Saturday, September 28, 2019

Making Tamarind Paste...

Tamarind Pods...
Make Tamarind Paste!
First, let me state that I love, love, love tamarind! Its unique, tangy, sour-but-with-a tinge-of-sweetness taste is inimitable, and whenever I find anything with tamarind sauce or tamarind glaze- or tamarind anything- I order it! It's Asian, it's Israeli, it's Caribbean, it's Mexican... everyone loves tamarind! My claim to fame, as it were, is having “invented” the Tamarind Colada in Puerto Rico on my day off during a disaster response operation (Recipe: Tamarind Nectar, Coco Lopez, and Rum, in whatever proportions you think wise...), and everyone laughed- until they tasted it. If, like me, you aren't fond of sweet drinks, such as Pina Coladas, a Tamarind Colada may be Just what you're looking for! In Israel, a stand in the Machneh Yehuda Shuk (Market) in Jerusalem sells glasses of Tamarind Drink that I dream about... In Vietnam I had Tamarind Crabs in a sea-side restaurant with my husband, and they were so delicious that I licked the shells clean of sauce, throwing decorum to the wind! And the sour-spicy-sweet Tamarind Candy we bought in the market in Saigon while on the “Pho Trail” breakfast foodie tour with “Saigon Street Eats” (tamarind paste balls mixed with Vietnamese hot pepper & dipped in sugar) was so amazing that I when we got back to the USA I Googled for recipes and managed to make a facsimile of it (see below). (I have found versions of Tamarind Candy in Asian Groceries, and on amazon.com, but while they're all Good, none of them measure up to the Amazeball candy in the Saigon Market...) And I just found several mouthwatering Brisket with Tamarind Sauce recipes online (see below) that I want to make for Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) this year, and Tamarind-Coconut Curry, and one for a Tamarind Margarita...
Basically, tamarind is one of my Five Basic Food Groups, along with Hot Peppers, Sushi, Pesto, and Chinese Dumplings. LOL
I have always bought Asian Tamarind Paste in a jar, or Mexican Tamarind Nectar in a can... but when I saw a little bag of Tamarind Pods in a Mexican Grocery in South Carolina (during another disaster response operation), I had to buy them, to make my very own tamarind paste! And as Rosh Hashanah starts tomorrow, and I want to make brisket or chicken with a tamarind sauce (not to mention a Margarita...), I pulled out my little bag of tamarind pods and set to work!
Making a nice, smooth tamarind paste turned out to be quite easy, but rather laborious, and I'm honestly not sure it's worth the effort... It's certainly easier to just buy a jar of the tamarind paste and call it a day... LOL
The only really positive things I can say for making your own tamarind paste is that you get to plant the seeds and try to grow little tamarind trees, and you get to lick your fingers. LOL
The first thing I did was Google “making tamarind paste from pods” and came up with a number of helpful sites:

8 ounces tamarind flesh, about half of a 16-ounce package
2 1/2 cups boiling water
Place the chunk of tamarind into a large bowl, then pour boiling water over it and let it sit until the water is cool enough to handle. Massage and squeeze the tamarind in the water with both hands so the water and hands rub the tamarind to make a thick concentrate; the pulp and liquid should resemble a thick soup. Strain liquid though a large sieve into a medium pot. Squeeze the tamarind to get out all of the liquid, then discard the solid. Bring the strained liquid to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Store and keep in refrigerator for two weeks, or in the freezer for 6 months.
So to make the tamarind paste I first de-shelled the pods, and removed the big strings from the pulp. 
Tamarind Pods
Then I popped out as many seeds as I could, noting that tamarind is mostly seeds, surrounded by a little pulp... I then soaked the pulp pieces in a bowl of warm water for half an hour. And then I kneaded. And kneaded. And kneaded. I finally manged to work out all the seeds, and then kneaded the pulp into a paste and pushed it through a strainer several times.
And there you have it: my little bowl of Tamarind Paste!
Tamarind Paste!

Lots of Tamarind Seeds...




A total fool for tamarind, I added water to the leftover pulp, heated it in the microwave, mashed and strained it again, and made myself a tamarind drink... and then I licked my fingers and the strainer- it is delicious stuff! LOL




Tamarind Recipes:

Tamarind Syrup Drink, from Pranee's Thai Kitchen:
Nam Chuem Makham น้ำเชื่อมมะขาม 
Yield: 3/4 cup
1/2 cup tamarind concentrate, freshly made or from the can
1/4 cup brown sugar or honey
Combine tamarind concentrate, brown sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil on high heat. Stir and let it cook for 2 minutes. Strain into a clean jar, when it is cool then store in the fridge for a week or keep in the freezer for 3 months.

Prepare tamarind “sauce”: Take 1 tbsp tamarind paste (available at Asian and Mexican groceries) add about ¼ cup of water. Warm and stir until everything is well mixed. Prepare two glasses with a chili-powder/salt rim. (Adjust chili-ness to your own liking)
To your shaker add:
  • 3 oz tequila
  • 1 tbsp tamarind sauce (adjust to taste)
  • ½ oz simple syrup
  • 1 oz lime juice
  • ½ oz citronage (or triple sec)
  • 1 oz orange juice  (we used blood oranges because we had them)
  • Add ice, shake vigorously and strain into already-prepped glasses.

Brisket with Chile & Tamarind, from Bailey Farms: http://baileyfarmsinc.com/braised-beef-brisket-with-chile-and-tamarind-sauce/


Coconut Tamarind Chicken Curry, from BBC Good Food:

Vietnamese Tamarind Dipping Sauce, from The Spruce Eats

Tamarind Candy- recipe from Rachel Cooks Thai: 

What are your favorite tamarind recipes? Let me know in the comments so I can add them to my Great Big File Of Tamarind Recipes!

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