Topic: Tamarind uses

[rhodriharris]

I make a basic tamarind drink with sugar and lemon/lime juice which taste great but what are its applications in bir curries if any?  This is a new spice (if it is classified as a spice) for me and have bought some recently with the purpose of getting to know what it does as i do with most spices and indian cooking products.  Anyone use it or has used it please leave a reply, i know it's great with fish and chutneys and this is the only place i can see it used at the moment. Thanks

[Razor]

Hi Rod,

I have bought some Tamarind myself, having never used it before.  I want to make a Mulligatawny soup which requires tamarind in the recipe.

The reason I'm trying this is, I tried a new TA the other night, just a chicken madras and I got a very familiar taste.  One that I haven't had since I was a kid, and that taste was Mulligatawny!

Having found a recipe, the only ingredient that I wouldn't recognise by taste is tamarind.  My intentions are, to make 2 versions of the soup, one with and one without the tamarind.  If my suspicion's are correct, this new TA is using tamarind in either their base gravy or, their madras sauce, possibly in place of lemon juice?


Ray

[chewytikka]

Hi Rhod
Are you talking Tamarind concentrate or making water from the actual fruit?
Any upmarket BIR trying to emulate a South Indian Dish will use Tamarind, as it's one of the main ingredients of South Indian cuisine, along with coconut, curry leaves, mustard etc...

I"ts been part of the English taste buds for years, in the form of HP and Worcestershire Sauce.
If you make a madras, add some tamarind to give it that something extra.
try my recipe (http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=5376.0)

I've a few recipes in my head, which I need to author.
King Prawn Puli is one, Scallops in Tamarind Sauce is another.
I'll post them as soon as I make them again.

I cook alot of Tikkis (potato cakes) and bottled Tamarind sauce
and thick greek yoghurt go fantastic.
Maggie have a good one called Tamarina (worth a try)
http://osem.co.uk/products/maggi-tamarina-sauce

ChewyTikka

[Razor]

Hi Chewy,

Does the Maggi Tamarina taste typically of tamarind?  My intention was, to make tamarind water and add it to my madras sauce in place of lemon juice, but maybe I could just use the tamarina instead, what dya think?

Ray

[chewytikka]

Hi Ray
Tamarina has the distinctive taste of tamarind, would be good in Madras, it is quite thick a bit like getting Ketchup out the bottle, so you could mix water with it.
I would still use a touch of lemon juice aswell

I also use the concentrate, got some TRS in the fridge which is very strong and tart.
Careful: Too much effects the stomach.

Cheers
ChewyTikka

[rhodriharris]

  Ok thanks guys, lots to go on especially in the base gravies and upmarket BIR's.  I think i need to add some to a curry to see what the overall taste and effect is like.  I use the deseeded tamarind fruit at the moment but have seen somewhere how to make a paste from it, think you boil it, strain it and reduce the strainings to a paste, i think.  The reason i went for the fruit first is because i wanted to make the drink first as i never had an indian drink to compliment my curries and then go from there and find out its other applications.  Someone said it affects the stomach, i read that it has laxitive properties to some degree and wondering if this is what you mean by affecting the stomach?  I see tamarind mentioned everywhere but couldn't find a curry recipie for it. I understand most spices but this one always seemed a mystery to me, i will try in a sag aloo next and see how it changes the overall flavour, do i need to use the paste or can i throw the fruit in whole as i love the idea of using the fruit.  One thing i noticed when making the drink is that the fruit does break down but not completly.

[Peripatetic Phil]

The reason i went for the fruit first is because i wanted to make the drink first as i never had an indian drink to compliment my curries

In that case, may I recommend Mango Lassi ?  Absolutely delicious, IMHO : I can never get enough of it.
** Phil.

[rhodriharris]

 Thanks phil, i see that mango lassi is one of the most popular drinks and should taste amazing when i make it as we all love mangos in my household, i was thinking of a tamarind ginger drink originally but never found a recipie for it so if you know of one please leave a link and do you use tamarind in curries as well?

[chewytikka]

Hi Rhod
Found this in my Indian spice archive.

" Tamarind, is the flesh of the ripe fruit of tamarind tree. Needless to say, almost all parts of tamarind tree are used. The bark is used for medicinal purposes, the dry branches as fire wood, the fresh and tender leaves for dal (Chintachiguru pappu/ tender tamarind leaf dal) and the flowers as stimulants. The fruit when raw is used to make a popular pickle called chintakaaya pacchadi while the flesh of the ripe fruit is used to give sourness or tartness to various vegetable curries and almost all lentil dishes/dal/pappu. It is commonly used in fish and crab curries. However, it is not generally used in meat or chicken dishes. The seeds and leaves of tamarind tree are used to treat scorpion bites. Too much of tamarind (fresh) will cause flatulence and may also cause loose bowel movements. Old tamarind (that is, last year?s crop as opposed to this year?s) tastes very different from new and also gives a much stronger colour to the dish. Try to store new tamarind, which you can distinguish on the basis of its lighter colour-almost the colour of light brown honey, in the refrigerator as it will retain its colour and taste longer. "

Never seen any fresh, in my local asian stores!
But good luck with your experiments

ChewyTikka

[Peripatetic Phil]

Thanks phil, i see that mango lassi is one of the most popular drinks and should taste amazing when i make it as we all love mangos in my household, i was thinking of a tamarind ginger drink originally but never found a recipie for it so if you know of one please leave a link and do you use tamarind in curries as well?

I've never made a tamarind drink : I wonder if it would leave the palate feeling dry rather than refreshed ?  I have eaten tamarind "candies" (Vietnamese boiled sweets) and they are very pleasant, but they are so sticky that each sweet is wrapped in two separate wrappers !  As for tamarind in curries, yes, I have used it; in dhansak, mainly, but occasionally just as a variation in a basic Madras.  I use the concentrate, bought aeons ago from I forget where.

** Phil.