Sour Power: How To Use Tamarind Pods, Pulp And Paste | Kitchen Aide

3 weeks ago

Can you please explicate tamarind? Pods, pulp, paste, ore … I can’t support up pinch them all. David, via email
How does Chaya Maya, improvement cook astatine Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, emotion tamarind? Let her count nan ways: “It’s delicious, positive you tin usage it successful saccharine and savoury dishes, aliases to make lemonade, which we do successful Mauritius; it has that sour sharpness that makes your rima tingle. Actually, we request a tamarind movement.” Also successful favour of nan pucker consequence is Melissa Thompson, writer of Motherland, namely for its “lovely consistency” and expertise to “coat things nicely” while adding “depth”.

As David says, tamarind comes successful various forms, but let’s commencement astatine nan very opening pinch those peanut-shaped pods, which Thompson likes to snack connected – conscionable ace unfastened nan ammunition and eat nan flesh. “When I started cheffing, I wanted to do each nan processes myself, truthful I’d bargain a container of pods, peel them, soak them and mash them, which took truthful long!” Perhaps unsurprisingly, these days she prefers a compressed block, which besides happens to beryllium Maya’s go-to: “You person to hydrate it, past make a paste, but nan blocks past longer, positive nan shaper will person waited until nan tamarind is ripe, truthful it’s saccharine and caramelly.” Perfect, then, for Thompson’s barbecue sauce, which involves breaking disconnected 50g pulp, steeping it successful h2o and combining pinch pome molasses, but nan possibilities are (almost) endless: “A artifact is nan astir versatile option, but only for personification who gets done a lot.”

Perhaps easier is simply a jar of paste, which is readily disposable successful supermarkets, aliases tamarind concentrate. “Depending connected wherever it’s from [predominantly Thailand and India], it tastes rather different, which tin origin confusion,” says Feast’s ain Helen Goh, whose first solo book, Baking and nan Meaning of Life, is retired successful September. “I only ever usage Thai aliases Malaysian tamarind, which is fruity, bright, smooth, liquidy and brown; Indian tamarind, by contrast, is darker, almost black, and acold much concentrated and intense.” Add a spoonful for instant oomph successful soups, stews, nutrient marinades aliases anyplace you mightiness different move to citrus. “It’s not rather nan aforesaid arsenic a block, but it’s still beautiful delicious,” Maya says. “Just watch retired erstwhile seasoning, because nan jarred worldly is often already salted.” She suggests adding lime juice to loosen, past flavouring pinch crushed garlic, chopped outpouring bulb and caller chilli, positive brackish and sweetener to taste. “Roast immoderate fish, move connected nan tamarind operation and it’s nan best. If you’ve sewage crispy onions, heap them connected apical arsenic well.” Thompson, meanwhile, would usage her noodle: “Make a dressing by watering down tamarind paste, adhd vinegar, honey, chopped shallot, garlic, lime juice and zest, and move complete a acold noodle salad.”

Pineapple and tamarind are synonymous pinch Malaysia, wherever Goh grew up, and she says that duo are peculiarly invited successful an upside-down cake: “Tamarind ore goes into nan caramel,which is poured into a barroom tin. Lay pineapple connected top, move successful nan barroom batter, past cook – it melts into a gooey, syrupy point that I love.” There’s besides tamarind extract, but Thompson would beryllium inclined to time off that good alone: “People thin to travel unstuck pinch that because it is truthful concentrated.” That said, it useful a dream successful vegan food sauce, which is yet much impervious that sweet-sour tamarind really does make everything better.