Tamarind: Block, Paste, Concentrate and Tamarind Water
Tamarind is the fruit of the tamarind tree. Its brown, sticky pulp tastes sour with a fruity sweetness and gives pad Thai, South Indian curries and many Southeast Asian soups their typical sourness.
Fact sheet
- Also known as
- Tamarind, makham (มะขาม), asam jawa, imli (इमली), me (Vietnam), Tamarindenpaste, Tamarindenmark
- Origin
- tropisches Afrika, seit Jahrhunderten in Indien, heute ganz Süd- und Südostasien
- Taste
- sauer, fruchtig, nach Trockenaprikose und Dattel
- Substitute
- 1 EL Limettensaft mit ½ TL braunem Zucker je EL Tamarindenwasser, ein paar Tropfen Worcestershiresauce für Farbe, in indischen Gerichten Amchur
- Storage
- Block in Folie kühl und trocken oder im Kühlschrank, Tamarindenwasser einige Tage im Kühlschrank oder eingefroren
- Where to buy
- Asialaden, indischer Lebensmittelladen, online, Paste teils im Supermarkt
Origin and flavor
The tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) originally comes from tropical Africa. It has grown in India for centuries, and today also throughout Southeast Asia and in Latin America. Its fruits are brown, finger-long pods with a brittle shell. Inside is the pulp, threaded with fibers and hard, shiny seeds.
The pulp recalls dried apricots and dates, with a strong sourness that feels softer than lime. There are sour and sweet varieties. In Thailand you eat the sweet ones plain as a snack; for cooking you use the sour ones.
You meet many names in recipes: makham (มะขาม) in Thai, asam jawa in Indonesian and Malay, imli in Hindi, me in Vietnamese. The Vietnamese Cua rang me carries tamarind right in its name.
Block, paste and concentrate
In stores you find tamarind in several forms. They differ in consistency and strength:
| Form | What is in it | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Block | pressed pulp with seeds and fibers | soak and strain, tastes freshest |
| Paste | strained pulp, sometimes thinned with water | ready to use, strength varies by brand |
| Concentrate | reduced pulp, almost black | very intense, slightly bitter, use sparingly and diluted |
| Whole pods | dried fruits in the shell | peel, scrape out the pulp, use like block |
The names on labels are not consistent. “Tamarind paste” can be a thin sauce or a thick mass. Thai recipes usually mean tamarind water from the block. If you work with paste or concentrate, add it bit by bit and taste.
Making tamarind water
From the block you make, in a quarter of an hour, a thick sour base that many recipes call tamarind paste or tamarind juice:
- Cut 30 g from the tamarind block and pull it into small pieces.
- Pour 100 ml hot, not boiling, water over it and let it soften for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Knead with your fingers or a fork until the pulp comes off the seeds and fibers and the water turns thick and brown.
- Press the mass through a fine strainer. At the end scrape the underside of the strainer; a lot of pulp clings there.
- Squeeze the seeds and fibers a second time with 2 tbsp water, then discard them.
You get a good 100 ml of tamarind water with the consistency of a thin sauce. For a thicker paste use less water. As a guideline, dilute concentrate with three to four times the amount of water and then taste.
Uses in the kitchen
In Thai cooking, tamarind is the cornerstone of the Pad Thai sauce with palm sugar and fish sauce. That sauce makes the Pad Thai. It also sours soups such as Tom klong pla salid with smoked fish.
In Indonesia it belongs in Sayur asem, the sour vegetable soup, in Malaysia in Asam laksa. In Cambodia cooks stir tamarind, sugar and water into Teuk ampel, a refreshing tamarind drink.
In India tamarind goes into chutneys, the lentil stew sambar and the soup rasam. Worcestershire sauce also contains tamarind.
Tamarind turns dishes brownish. Add it in small steps and taste in between, because the sourness varies from block to block.
Substitutes for tamarind
- Lime juice with brown sugar: Replace 1 tbsp tamarind water with 1 tbsp lime juice and ½ tsp brown sugar. The fruity depth is missing, but the sourness fits.
- With a little color: A few drops of Worcestershire sauce in the lime juice bring back savoriness and the brown color.
- In Indian dishes: Amchur, dried green mango powder, gives a similar fruity sourness.
The page Substituting Asian ingredients collects more swaps for Asian ingredients.
Buying and storing
You can get tamarind blocks and concentrate at an Asian grocery store, an Indian grocery store and online. Well-stocked supermarkets sometimes carry paste in the Asian aisle. For pad Thai the block is worth it: it is cheap and tastes fresher than most pastes.
After opening, wrap the block tightly in plastic and store it cool and dry or in the refrigerator. It keeps for many months. White crystals on the surface are fruit sugar that has come out. Tamarind water keeps a few days in the refrigerator. Freeze larger amounts in an ice cube tray and take out a cube as needed. After opening, paste and concentrate go in the refrigerator and keep there for several months.