Tamarind Paste

Tamarind is a tropical fruit with sweet and sour flavor. The pulp extract from the tamarind is used in a many Indian  recipes to add tangy taste. Before coming to US, I use to prepare Instant tamarind pulp by soaking the tamarind in a warm water for 10 mins and press the softened pulp in a strainer to remove liquid and fiber separately. After using Tamarind concentrate which is available in Indian store made me lazy to follow the whole procedure. I got this recipe from TV program which is purely homemade & cost cutting too....

Ingredients:

Tamarind - 500gms / 1 pound
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
Salt - ½ cup
Water - ½ cup

Method:

• Clean Tamarind & remove seeds & thread or fiber from it.
• Wash & soak Tamarind with ½ cup of water for 15 mins in a pressure pan.
• Add Turmeric powder & salt to this Tamarind mixture and pressure cook for 2 whistle in low heat.
• Turn off the heat & allow it to cool for 1 hour with out opening pressure pan.
• In a blender, blend this cooked tamarind mixture (If necessary add little water) & Filter it  in a strainer to remove excess fiber from it.
• Discard the fiber portion & store the tamarind pulp in a air tight container in a refrigerator for 2 months.
• This pulp can be directly used to any Indian dishes & doesn't required any additional cooking time since it already cooked & wont have any raw smell.

(Note: If the tamarind mixture is not thick, then cook on low heat until moisture evaporates )

Tamarind