Tamarind is such an essential ingredient in so many cuisines all over the world, particularly Indian. Whether you are a novice tamarind user, or an experienced one – read on! You may just discover new ways of using and storing Tamarind.
The name Tamarind derives from the Arabic name for it – Tamar Hind meaning ‘Indian dates’. Even if you don’t know what it is, chances are you’ve probably tasted it already – it is extensively used in Indian chutneys and curries , several Middle-Eastern food, African and Mexican fare too! It adds a wonderful tangy-sour-sweet flavour to a dish, something that raises your eyebrows and makes you go ‘wow!‘
I grew up around Tamarind trees myself, in fact I went through a mild addiction phase as a kid. There was a huge tamarind tree in my school yard and we’d pick up the ripe ones that had fallen down from the tree and just snack on it. The more agile ones would climb up the tree and shake the branches as we held up our skirts to catch the pods as they fell. It was tangy, sweet and just delicious. We’d even save up the seeds and use it to play games. I preferred the ripe ones, but a lot of my friends ate them while they were still green. They said it tasted like green mango. I even remember having a whole jar of seeds saved up. Hey! We were kids, it was shiny and smooth, don’t judge us ok! We all found weird things interesting as kids.
Most Indian meals use a fair amount of tamarind in them (particularly the Southern fare), which means getting their ‘juice’ out while cooking in the mornings can be a bit of a chore. Sure, there’s tamarind paste you get nowadays, but the preservatives in them disturb me a bit. I prefer using the tamarind block and extracting the ‘juice’ myself, thank you very much!
Here’s three ways that you can easily extract Tamarind pulp/juice without wasting too much time in the mornings!
#1: The traditional way
Tear apart a small piece of tamarind block and soak in warm water for about 10 minutes till it softens. Juice it with your fingers to remove as much ‘juice’ as possible, strain and use. Discard pulp.
#2: A little unconventional
Tear apart a handful chunk of tamarind off the block and place in a glass container with a lid. Cover with enough water to immerse it, and refrigerate. Overnight, the tamarind will soften and be ready for use the next morning. Squeeze the pulp and use what you need. Cover and store the rest in the refrigerator for upto a week.
#3: The smart way
I’ve been doing this for a while now, and I love how there’s tamarind in my fridge ALWAYS!
This method makes sure that the tamarind juice keeps longer than a week. By using your hands to juice the pulp (I can’t think of a better way, using a potato ricer maybe, but that just feels like a little too much!), you introduce bacteria from your hands affecting hot long it can keep before turning a bit rancid. Boiling kills the germs, extending the lifetime of your tamarind juice. Be sure to make a large batch of this, and you don’t have to do this every time you want some tamarind juice.
Take 160 grams (5.6 oz) of tamarind and add 2 cups of water. (Makes about 3 cups of tamarind ‘juice’. Lasts for a long, long time).
Heat in the microwave for about a minute until it softens. Let it cool completely.
Now the messy part begins: press out the juice using your hands.
Once you’ve got a slushy mix, run it through a sieve. Add more water, press, sieve and repeat. I needed 1 more cup of water to extract all the juice. You don’t want to add a lot of water, because then the final ‘juice’ becomes diluted, which means you’ll have to add a lot of it in your curries, further diluting your end product.
Seriously, you gotta squeeze the life out of this thing! Keep going at it until you end up with this.
Discard pulp and seeds and transfer the juice to a pan and let it come to a boil for a full minute or two. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
Pour into a clean, sterile jar and refrigerate. Use a clean, dry spoon to take out what you need and refrigerate the rest. Should keep well for upto 3 months. You can freeze it in ice-cube trays for longer.
There are two things I hate about cooking Indian food in the mornings: Grating Coconut and Juicing Tamarind. Now, both problems solved! Now that you have a good supply of tamarind juice going, keep an eye out for my grandmother’s glorious recipe for a Brinjal Curry – seriously guys, this curry is what got me to fall in love with cooking!.
Have any more tips for me? Let me know in the comments below!
Linda says
How do i get your recipe for your grammas curry, im just learning how to make curry dishes an would like to try yours.
Tina Dawson says
I’ve linked to my grandmothers eggplant curry in this post above – but here’s it is again: https://loveisinmytummy.com/2016/09/kathirikkai-kuzhambu-brinjal-curry.html
George J Wipf says
Good Morning
I bought 400 gram Tamarind for a liver cleanse, the store i bought it from don’t have a recipe
I was wondering if you be so king to help me out on recipe
Tina Dawson says
The quantities have been mentioned in this post: Take 160 grams (5.6 oz) of tamarind and add 2 cups of water. (Makes about 3 cups of tamarind ‘juice’. Lasts for a long, long time). This will make a thick syrup, which you can dilute according to your needs.
Anita says
I made my own tamarind paste and it has been sitting in the fridge for a month. Today I noticed that it has some white spots on top and seem kind of bubbly. Has it gone bad most likely? It doesn’t smell bad.
Tina Dawson says
Oh no, white spots are fungus/mold – discard the paste, wash the jar, sterilize it in boiling water and make yourself a fresh batch of tamarind paste.
Anita says
Oh no, indeed! 😭 Thank you so much though, for your quick and helpful reply!
Tina Dawson says
No problem – be sure to boil the paste, really long and hard before storing. I find that it keeps longer when properly reduced and all semblance of microbes killed. Use a clean dry spoon while taking paste. Keep it refrigerated, don’t let it thaw to room temperature after it’s been refrigerated. Take only what you need and promptly return the rest to the fridge. Don’t let condensation form inside the jar, that;s what causes the fungus. I hope that helps!
Zay Yar Min says
May I know how to store fresh tamarind. FOR the long time.I want to keep for 1 year .it possible or not.
Tina Dawson says
When you say fresh tamarind are you talking about the ones still in their pods? The dried ones have a very long shelf life as long as you keep them dry and away from moisture and light. Once hydrated back into liquid form (like I’ve shown in this post), you can only keep it refrigerated for a short while.
Ram says
Ive been using tamarind by putting it directly in boiling water, and using it all without bothering to extract the paste. Is that ok?
If i dont mind having rhe fibrous bits in the sambar, do i still need to take trouble of extracting the paste?
Tina Dawson says
Even though using tamarind whole without extracting just the paste is largely unconventional, I don’t believe it’s harmful in anyway. It’s just a matter of preference.
Kenneth Rodgers says
My wife ”s boss is a Hindu Indian and we are planning to cook dinner for him
Tina Dawson says
That is so lovely Kenneth – I hope you have a wonderful experience cooking Indian food!
Emma @ Supper in the Suburbs says
What a helpful post! I love the flavour of tamarind but have no idea what to do with it myself!
Tina Dawson says
Oh Emma, then stay tuned, coz Friday I will be posting my grandmother’s famous Brinjal (Eggplant) curry – tamarind is the core ingredient.
Dahn @savor the Best says
This is great. I’m so glad to see that this will keep for 3 months. I think I will have to freeze half of mine since I don’t use tamarind frequently.
Tina Dawson says
Oh then simply freeze them in ice-cube trays and it’ll probably last for upto a year! 🙂
sue | theviewfromgreatisland says
Thank you for this! We have a local market that sells tamarind and I’ve been so curious about it, I’m going to go get some this week, and I can’t wait for grandma’s curry recipe 🙂
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Sue! It’s a lovely ingredient, so much you can do with it! Give it a try!
Lucy says
I love cooking with tamarind (it’s so yummy in pad thai!) but I never know what to do with the leftovers. Thanks so much for these great tips!!
Tina Dawson says
Thanks Lucy! I am so glad you love tamarind! Now you can store it and make it last for some Pad Thai in a pinch!
Charla @ That Girl Cooks Healthy says
We use tamarind in the Caribbean too and I believe it was brought over to the islands by the East Indian labourers. Thank you for sharing such invaluable information I will be sure to apply it when I purchase more tamarind.
Tina Dawson says
Oh thanks Charla, so glad I could be of use! 🙂
Revathi says
Use such paste as a body wash.. apply all across the body and take bath after about 20 minutes. No market organic wash will match the freshness you will feel.
Tina Dawson says
Never heard of Tamarind being used as a body wash, but I must say, I am intrigued! Thanks for sharing!
J @Blessherheartyall says
This post has been so informative for me! I had no idea about half of this stuff about tamarind. Thanks for sharing!
Tina Dawson says
Yaay! glad I could help!
Esther says
Your intro left me nostalgic for my childhood days under my grandmothers tamarind trees . We too ate ripe tamarind right out of the shells ! Picked them from the dirt , cracked them and munched on it, spitting out the seeds . Priceless memory ! Thank you .
Tina Dawson says
Oh Esther, those memories were some of my favourite! It was so much fun, wasn’t it??? Thanks so much for sharing yours!