Tamarind

[mamster]

I love almost any dish with tamarind in it.  And more to the point, I am working on an article about tamarind.  I'm familiar with how tamarind is used in Thai food, and to a lesser extent in Mexican food, but beyond vindaloo, I know little about how India uses this wonderfully sour fruit.  What kind of dishes feature tamarind?  Are tamarind drinks popular?  What about desserts and snacks?

[Suvir Saran]

Do you pay us for your research?

Tamarind is as old as time as people in India would say. The name having indica as a suffix makes the myth perpetuate even more.  But Tamarind is originally from the African Tropics.  It made its way into India at a time very long ago in history, and so has been treated as a tree native to India.

In India Tamarind trees are often married to Mango trees and then the fruits of the Mango tree are supposedly far sweeter and bearing of the required complimentary sourness.

:confused:

I spent many summer months as a child in Nagpur where I would be with my siblings and friends atop a Tamarind tree and my mother and her friends would be doing the mise-en-place (sp?) for making pickles.

Tamarind is used to make drinks, snacks, chaats (street foods), in curries and in pickles and chutneys.  

We make coolers (drinks) that are had during the Loo Laden (Hot and dry winds) summer days in the Northern Plains.

At every street corner in the North and also several other parts of India, you can find street food vendors selling different dishes.  Many have a chutney added called, Saunth, Meethi Chutney, Imlee/Amlee Kee Chutney, all referring to the Sweet and Sour Tamarind Chutney.  This is sometimes added to the dish as it is made and at other times as a garnish.

Candies are made with Tamarind that are eaten by kids during lunch hours at school or as they leave.  Vendors are selling these candies knowing that no child can resist the urge of getting some Imlee Ke Ladoo (sour balls of tamarind with thick coating of sugar). They are deeply addictive.

Pickles and Chutneys across India have Tamarind in them.

Many Indian curries and dishes have Tamarind in them. Vindaloo is one of many such dishes.

Tamarind is used across the many regions of India.

[mamster]

Too much information!

Just kidding.  Thanks, Suvir.  I realized after I posted that of course I do know the ubiquitous thin tamarind chutney.  There is so much to say about tamarind, I should make it a series of articles.

By the way, I have here some tamarind extract imported from India, and the brand name is TAMCON.  I love this futuristic-sounding name.

[Suvir Saran]

And it has been a part of my long past.  Tamcon that is.

And you are welcome.

[Suvir Saran]

I love almost any dish with tamarind in it.  And more to the point, I am working on an article about tamarind.  I'm familiar with how tamarind is used in Thai food, and to a lesser extent in Mexican food, but beyond vindaloo, I know little about how India uses this wonderfully sour fruit.  What kind of dishes feature tamarind?  Are tamarind drinks popular?  What about desserts and snacks?

Mamster,

Has your article been published?

[Suvir Saran]

The summers are a great time to think of Tamarind. I always think of climbing atop a Tamarind tree and watching my mother pickle fruits and veggies as she did when I was a young boy in Nagpur. I always go back to that memory.

But on Wednesday, I drank some Panna (drink made with green mango) and in this version, tamarind juice had also been added. It was amazing.

What are you making with Tamarind this summer? Is there a favorite way you use Tamarind?

[ShawtyCat]

Oh I love Tamarind. We have a Tamarind tree in our backyard in Barbados. When the tamarinds are ripe we would pick a bunch of them shell them and make Tamarind Balls, Tamarind Jam or just eat them plain with a little salt. I especially love tamarind jam. Its something every little kid in Barbados eats.

There is usually a snack vendor (a little old lady with a stall) parked outside of the school around lunch time and when school lets out. She sells sweets, corn curls (or cheese puffs as Americans like to call them), ackees, black bit** (don't worry its candy ) and suck-a-bubbies. But the one thing that kids would line up for was Tamarind or Gooseberry Jam. The lady would bring her pot out on one of those portable stoves and we would get it fresh. Yum Yum Yum.. Brings back great memories.

[Suvir Saran]

Oh I love Tamarind.  We have a Tamarind tree in our backyard in Barbados.  When the tamarinds are ripe we would pick a bunch of them shell them and make Tamarind Balls, Tamarind Jam or just eat them plain with a little salt.  I especially love tamarind jam.  Its something every little kid in Barbados eats. 

There is usually a snack vendor (a little old lady with a stall) parked outside of the school around lunch time and when school lets out.  She sells sweets, corn curls (or cheese puffs as Americans like to call them), ackees, black bit** (don't worry its candy ) and suck-a-bubbies.  But the one thing that kids would line up for was Tamarind or Gooseberry Jam.  The lady would bring her pot out on one of those portable stoves and we would get it fresh.  Yum Yum Yum.. Brings back great memories.

How funny this is. When Mamster was doing his story, I spoke with him and the one thing I mentioned to him was a similar story about school kids. I was telling him about my own experience with the elderly woman who sold candy... and how the Tamarind sweet, tangy, sour and spicy ball was everyones favorite.

It does bring back memories does it not?

[Suvir Saran]

I especially love tamarind jam.  Its something every little kid in Barbados eats.

What was that Jam like? Do you remember? Would love to know more about it.. maybe it is the same thing we Indian kids grew up craving.

[ShawtyCat]

I guess Ill have to post a copy of this when I get to The Food of Barbados Part II

Tamarind Jam

Tamarinds

Sugar

Water

Cinnamon Stick

Add everything to the pot and reduce. Dont reduce too much or you will end up with Tamarind Paste. Strain to remove seeds and cinnamon stick.

I love this when it is still hot but you can bottle it after its cooled a little. I loved this, Gooseberry Jam and Tamarind Balls. You know....I don't think my food is all that different from yours.

[Suvir Saran]

I guess Ill have to post a copy of this when I get to The Food of Barbados Part II

Tamarind Jam

Tamarinds

Sugar

Water

Cinnamon Stick

Add everything to the pot and reduce.  Dont reduce too much or you will end up with Tamarind Paste. Strain to remove seeds and cinnamon stick. 

I love this when it is still hot but you can bottle it after its cooled a little.  I loved this, Gooseberry Jam and Tamarind Balls.  You know....I don't think my food is all that different from yours.   

Thanks for the recipe. It is so simple and yet seems easily to be something most people would find addictive.

[Suvir Saran]

I guess Ill have to post a copy of this when I get to The Food of Barbados Part II

Tamarind Jam

Tamarinds

Sugar

Water

Cinnamon Stick

Add everything to the pot and reduce.  Dont reduce too much or you will end up with Tamarind Paste. Strain to remove seeds and cinnamon stick. 

I love this when it is still hot but you can bottle it after its cooled a little.  I loved this, Gooseberry Jam and Tamarind Balls.  You know....I don't think my food is all that different from yours.   

What are the Tamarind Balls like?

How are they sold or eaten?

And yes in India we have these wild berries called Ram Ke Ber (Berries that were the favorite of Lord Ram) and in Nagpur, we would see vendors sell these berries cooked in a Tamarind Jam like the one you describe.

The tiny balls, which would usually be just the size of cherries, would swell up in the jam as they cooked and take on the size of a plum. And t hey would be full of juice and sour and sweet and spicy. Yummmmm I was only 9 I think when I ate them last, and still, the flavor lingers in my mouth everytime I think of them. I have dreamt of those berries in the Tamarind Jam so very often.

What a shame I could never share that experience with my mother. It was forbidden for us to buy that stuff. We did it on the sly. Now I worry if I can ever find that old lady that sold them, ever again. And I worry if someone continued with her business. I am certain she has moved onto the next part of her journey, even though, she lives in the minds of all those millions of children that she charmed with her great berries and Tamarind Jam over several decades.

[ShawtyCat]

This is something Id have to make though....I can only find Tamarind Balls at the Asian market.

[Suvir Saran]

Did you have Tamarind Balls back home?

Were they the same as the ones available in the Asian stores?

[Suvir Saran]

What other recipes did you all use Tamarind in?

Did you all make any drinks with Tamarind as well?

[ShawtyCat]

What are the Tamarind Balls like?

How are they sold or eaten?

And yes in India we have these wild berries called Ram Ke Ber (Berries that were the favorite of Lord Ram) and in Nagpur, we would see vendors sell these berries cooked in a Tamarind Jam like the one you describe.

The tiny balls, which would usually be just the size of cherries, would swell up in the jam as they cooked and take on the size of a plum.  And t hey would be full of juice and sour and sweet and spicy.  Yummmmm I was only 9 I think when I ate them last, and still, the flavor lingers in my mouth everytime I think of them.  I have dreamt of those berries in the Tamarind Jam so very often.

Tamarind Balls come in a variety of sizes....it all depends on who is making them

Tamarind Balls are basically made with sugar and tamarind. There is a spice that is used to give it the nice, hot, biting flavor but Id have to call my mom back. She just went to bed. Ill post the mystery ingredient tomorrow. They are exactly as you described: sour, sweet and spicy. We still have the old ladies in Barbados. It wouldn't be Barbados without them.

The tamarind balls are sold loose. She'd have a bunch of them in a tupperware container (a while back it was just a bowl with a dish cloth covering it) or a jar. They were sold at 10 cent each. Maybe its inflation but I wanted to buy some and found the price had risen to 25 cents each. I dont think anyone ever thought to add them to the jam but, man oh man, that's a great idea.

[Suvir Saran]

In India as well, the old ladies had them in big glass jars covered with muslin.

They had the tamarind balls tossed in fine sugar... so the outside was white...and the inside dark and sinful and addictive.

[Suvir Saran]

There is a spice that is used to give it the nice, hot, biting flavor but Id have to call my mom back.  She just went to bed.   Ill post the mystery ingredient tomorrow. They are exactly as you described: sour, sweet and spicy.

Thanks for doing this detective work.

YOu are very kind to offer to ask you mom.

I remember getting a sore throat many times, since I would eat too many of these balls, and then not be able to sing without a grand effort in my music lessons.

[ShawtyCat]

What other recipes did you all use Tamarind in? 

Did you all make any drinks with Tamarind as well?

We use a tamarind sauce to serve with pork but I think that's just my mom. And I know there is a drink with tamarind but Id have to ask my mom about that as well.

[ShawtyCat]

And yes in India we have these wild berries called Ram Ke Ber (Berries that were the favorite of Lord Ram) and in Nagpur, we would see vendors sell these berries cooked in a Tamarind Jam like the one you describe.

We have a Jam like that but it is called Gooseberry Jam. It is made with these very sour light green berries. We eat the berries by them selves with a little salt. But the preferred way to eat them is in Gooseberry Jam. Maybe they add more gooseberries in the middle of this to imitate this jam you are talking about?

[tommy]

americans have been enjoying tamarind for a very long time, without even knowing it. it's in A1 sauce. and HP i'd imagine.

[Suvir Saran]

americans have been enjoying tamarind for a very long time, without even knowing it.  it's in A1 sauce.  and HP i'd imagine.

What is HP Tommy???

[tommy]

What is HP Tommy???

a steak sauce used mostly in england. similar to A1.

[Suvir Saran]

What is HP Tommy???

a steak sauce used mostly in england. similar to A1.

Thanks Kind Sir!

In fact I have it in my pantry.. and always wondered what it was. Now I know...

[mamster]

Tamarind is also a key ingredient in Worcestershire sauce, but I guess that's not as popular as A1 and HP these days.

Sorry I missed the rebirth of this thread! My tamarind article hasn't been published yet; I expect it will be before the end of the year. I find tamarind juice a refreshing drink in the summer; I make it from blocks of tamarind paste, boiled up with some water and sugar, strained, and diluted. I believe there's a similar drink to this in Jamaica called tamarindade or tamarinade.

Last time the Pacific Northwest people met for Vietnamese sandwiches, I made everyone try some Thai-imported tamarind balls (ingredients: tamarind, sugar, salt, but they have that spicy edge that I don't think comes from tamarind alone). I don't think anyone liked them as much as I do.

I'm never disappointed to find tamarind on my plate, unless it's been oversweetened and used as a sauce for savory food.