Steven Raichlen

Homemade Tamarind Puree

Preparation info
  • Makes 1½ cups,

    12

    servings
    • Difficulty

      Easy

    • Ready in

      10 min

Appears in
Healthy Jewish Cooking
Healthy Jewish Cooking

By Steven Raichlen

Published 2000

  • About

If you live in an area with a large Hispanic or West Indian community, you may be able to find frozen tamarind puree. If not, you’ll need to make it, using tamarind pulp (peeled pods with the seeds), which are sold at ethnic markets and many supermarkets. Here’s how to make tamarind puree.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup peeled tamarind pulp, with seeds
  • 1¾ cups hot water

Method

  1. Break the pulp into 1-inch pieces and place in the bowl of a blender with 1 cup hot water. Let the tamarind soften for 5 minutes.

  2. Run the blender in short bursts at low speed for 15 to 30 seconds to obtain a thick brown liquid. Do not overblend, or you’ll break up the seeds. Pour the resulting liquid through a strainer, pressing hard with a wooden spoo