Tamarind: The Tropical Fruit with a Sour-Sweet Punch

Intensely tangy and fruity-sweet, tamarind is extremely versatile, starring in savory dishes, desserts, and drinks alike. The fruit’s acid balances sugar, rich peanuts, and salty fermented seafood both in Thailand’s pad Thai and Indonesia’s gado gado. In West Africa, the whole pods brighten up thiéboudienne, the nation’s signature fish and rice dish. And in Mexico, the fruit is combined with sugar and water to make punchy, refreshing agua de tamarindo.

Before you dive into the diverse world of tamarind recipes, it’s important to know that the fruit is available to purchase in several forms. Here’s your guide to the most common tamarind products you’ll find, plus an overview of how to cook with each. 

Tamarind (tamarindus indica) is a fruit tree indigenous to Africa that now grows in tropical regions worldwide. The tree produces hard-shelled fruit pods that contain a bracing, dark brownish-red pulp with a date-like texture.

Tamarind is fruity, punchy, and nuanced. 

The fruit varies a bit in flavor depending on when the pods are harvested. The sourest pulp comes from greenish, unripe pods; the pulp becomes more mild as the fruit ripens and the pods darken. 

Tamarind pods are the whole form of the fruit. They feature a brittle, brown exterior and a bronze, edible sour pulp inside. Seeds, which are discarded, are nestled inside the pulp.

If you’d like to cook with whole tamarind pods, they can be found both ripe and unripe at specialty supermarkets, East Asian and Indian grocers, and online. 

When shopping for whole tamarind pods, you may also come across pods of a sweet variety of tamarind, which is grown primarily in Thailand (they’re usually labeled “sweet tamarind”). These pods can be enjoyed out of hand as a snack—simply pop the pod open to expose the pulp, strip away any large fibers, and eat the sweet-tart pulp, avoiding or spitting out any seeds. 

Tamarind pulp, which is just the edible paste from within the pod, can also be purchased on its own. Blocks of tamarind pulp are firm and sticky, and must be softened and strained to a paste-like consistency before use. 

How to Make Tamarind Paste from Tamarind Pulp

For every 1 cup of paste desired, place 4 ounces of pulp in a bowl, cover with 1 cup boiling water, and break it up with a spatula. Let soak for 10 minutes, then push it through a fine-mesh strainer to remove the seeds and fibers and extract as much pulp as possible. The leftover paste can be frozen indefinitely.  

Commercially produced tamarind “concentrate” comes in two distinct styles: Thai/Indonesian and Indian. 

Thai/Indonesian-style tamarind concentrate: Despite labels that state “tamarind concentrate” and “nuoc me chua,” the Thai and Indonesian products aren’t concentrates at all, but rather tamarind pastes made by thinning pulp with water as described above. 

Indian-style concentrate: Jars of tamarind concentrate from the Indian subcontinent, on the other hand, contain paste cooked down into a true concentrate. This tamarind concentrate is almost black, with a thick, molasses-like consistency and a flavor that is more intense than Thai, Indonesian, or homemade tamarind paste while tasting less fruity and more “cooked.” 

Indian and Thai/Indonesian tamarind concentrates are thus not interchangeable, so be sure to know which type your recipe calls for. 

When shopping, if you’re unclear about what style you’ve found, look at the nutrition label: 

• Indian-style concentrate tends to be higher in calories, approximately 40 to 50 calories per tablespoon.
• Thai/Indonesian-style concentrate, since it’s actually more of a paste, tends to have fewer calories, about 5 to 15 per tablespoon. 

Tamarind powder, made from dehydrated and ground tamarind, is frequently used in Indian cuisine as a souring agent in rice dishes, dals, curries, and chutneys. 

It is also used in spice mixes and rubs and is particularly well-suited for candy making, where the added moisture imparted by tamarind pulp or paste could be problematic. 

In addition to the traditional uses listed above, there are plenty of other ways to use tamarind in your kitchen. Here are a few suggestions.

• Make a carrot-tamarind chutney to serve with pakoras or other fried foods 
• Mix some prepared tamarind paste into a cocktail (maybe a michelada or whiskey sour?)
• Brighten up your homemade barbecue sauce 
• Make a tamarind-spiked peanut sauce for dunking everything from crudités to grilled chicken