Tamarind is a wonderfully versatile ingredient that shines in both sweet and savory dishes. Known for its tangy, mouth-tingling sourness, it’s used worldwide from lemonade in Mauritius to marinades, sauces, and desserts.
Chaya Maya, development chef at the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, praises tamarind’s unique flavor profile: “It’s delicious, plus you can use it in sweet and savoury dishes, or to make lemonade. It has that sour sharpness that makes your mouth tingle. Actually, we need a tamarind movement.”
Melissa Thompson, author of Motherland, also loves its rich consistency and ability to coat ingredients while adding depth to a dish, here is the guide.
From Pods to Pulp
At its most natural, tamarind comes in peanut-shaped pods. Thompson enjoys them as a snack simply crack the shell and eat the sticky flesh. In her early cooking days, she would buy boxes of pods, peel, soak, and mash them herself a time-consuming process. Now, she prefers compressed tamarind blocks, which last longer and are made from fully ripe fruit, giving them a sweet, caramel-like flavor.
These blocks need to be hydrated and made into paste before use, but they’re ideal for recipes like Thompson’s barbecue sauce: steep 50g of pulp in water, then mix with apple molasses for a tangy-sweet result.
Tamarind Paste and Concentrate
For convenience, tamarind paste and concentrate are readily available in jars. However, flavor varies depending on the source:
- Thai or Malaysian tamarind — fruity, bright, smooth, liquidy, and brown.
- Indian tamarind — darker, almost black, more concentrated, and intense.
Helen Goh, author of Baking and the Meaning of Life, uses only Thai or Malaysian varieties for their balanced flavor. Tamarind paste can add instant complexity to soups, stews, marinades, or even replace citrus in recipes.
Maya recommends loosening jarred paste with lime juice, then seasoning with crushed garlic, chopped spring onion, fresh chili, salt, and sugar. Pour this mixture over roasted fish, then top with crispy onions for extra crunch. Thompson suggests a tamarind dressing for cold noodle salads thin the paste with water, then add vinegar, honey, shallots, garlic, lime juice, and zest.
Sweet Uses of Tamarind
Pineapple and tamarind are a classic pairing in Malaysia, where Goh grew up. She especially loves using tamarind concentrate in pineapple upside-down cake: add it to caramel, pour into a tin, arrange pineapple slices, then add batter and bake. The result is a gooey, syrupy dessert with a tangy twist.
A Word on Tamarind Extract
Tamarind extract is extremely concentrated and can be tricky to work with, but it’s excellent in vegan fish sauce. The takeaway? Whether in pod, block, paste, or concentrate form, tamarind’s sweet-sour punch can elevate almost anything.