Tamarind pulp is widely sold in several forms, as illustrated in the photo above:
- Whole Pods: These are found piled in bins (mostly broken) in markets serving Hispanic communities, and carefully packed in windowed gift boxes for sale in Asian communities. This is the least convenient form as you must pick off the fragile shell before using. Otherwise prepare the same as for the block form but use a bit more to compensate for the seeds.
- Pressed Block: This is the most common form - pulp with the shell and most of the seeds removed. Thailand is the most common exporter but also India and other tropical countries.
- Concentrate (Regular Paste): Widely available and the most convenient form, you need only spoon it out of a jar. A tablespoon of this paste is roughly equivalent to a tablespoon of block soaked and strained. Thailand exports a number of brands, often labeled in incomprehensible Thai script and in Vietnamese as Nuoc Me Cha. They vary in quality (some have tiny bits of shell in them but this doesn't seem to bother most recipes). A major brand from India is Laxmi which is the best I've used.
- Concentrate (Black) This seems to comes only from India. The most common brand in the US is Tamicon but there are others. It is highly concentrated and clearly has been cooked down giving it a bit of a molasses flavor. You'd need to dilute it with 2 parts water to 1 part concentrate to get it about where the regular paste is, but the flavor will still be different.
Using Block Form
Is block better than concentrate? Yes, more tart and more flavorful, nearly identical to fresh pods but easier to use because you don't have to pick off the shell.
- Cut off as much as needed. 1 ounce = 2 tablespoon = 2 tablespoon of regular paste. Soaked and strained it'll come out to about 3 tablespoons.
- Chop coarsely and place in a bowl. Pour over it 5 tablespoons of near boiling water. Let it soak, stirring occasionally, for about 1/2 hour. It is ready when all the sticky black paste is dissolved leaving the white seed surround and fibers.
- Strain, preferably through a nylon strainer due to the acidity, pushing the pulp around and pressing with a spoon. Be sure to scrape the outside of the strainer as much paste will adhere there.
- Refrigerate what you don't use right away - it'll keep a week or so.
Other Uses
Seeds currently have little use but a process is being developed
to use them to produce a substance similar to, but said to be superior to,
fruit pectin for making jams and jellies.
Leaves: In India and Africa tender leaf shoots are used as greens and in soup. They can be purchased in jars packed in brine in some markets serving Asian communities.
Flowers are used in salads in India and are made into a pickle in southwest India.
Pods: Immature pods are used in India to flavor rice. In the Bahamas green pods are roasted in ashes until they burst, then are dipped in the ashes and eaten. Immature pods are not available in North America except in frozen form (find them in Philippine markets). The trees are seldom planted in North America and are unlikely to fruit except at the southern tip of Florida.
Non Culinary: In Indonesia, tamarind pulp is rubbed into pottery before firing to produce a unique mottled reddish brown glaze.