What the heck do I do with all my tamarind paste?

[ucanahdooit]

So, I bought a big block of tamarind pulp for a vietnamese sweet and sour soup that I made (boy was it awesome). But, now i have a huge block of tamarind pulp - I barely used any of it- and have NO IDEA what to with it. Anyone know any good recipes that call for using a good amount of this stuff?
Thanks!!

[sanjaysoni]

Learn to cook South Indian food, it is used in almost all dishes - 100's of them.

[jello]

My husband makes a wonderful Tamarind Margarita!

[ucanahdooit]

mmm. best idea yet :)

[tinarampal]

I add some to my plain yogurt with come cumin and it tastes great

[luckyfatima]

Tamarind drink. Like lemonade, but murky and sour in that musky tamarind way. So Yum. I am gonna guesstimate the amount of ingredients here, but I'd say:

6-7 cups water
1 cup tamarind paste
1.5 cups sugar

Boil the tamarind in water and let it boil for a few minutes to kill any impurities. I am assuming your paste is smooth and no need to strain. If you need to strain any fibers out, do now. Then stir in the sugar, and chill. Taste it when it is chilled and adjust for sugar or water (if it is too sour or weak). Tamarind doesn't always taste the same, some is stronger than others, so you must taste what you make with it.

[Will Owen]

Don't know exactly where it went to, but somewhere I have a recipe for making tamarind syrup, which you can then keep in the fridge for recipes or for making tamarind drink. If the OP's tamarind paste is the same kind I had, it will be full of fibers, but that's easy enough to strain out after the soluble part is extracted. It's a bit messy, though, and the stuff is a b*** to clean from the strainer, which is a good reason to make a concentrate - just so you don't have to go through this every time you want some tamarind.

[luckyfatima]

I had just presumed that the OP's one had less fibers and was paste, not pulp, but yes the word "pulp" is used in the OP so there will be fibers. I usually make mine with the one which contains fibers and seeds and strain it. The best way for making the tamarind juice is to soak it all overnight. It strains very nicely. For daily cooking (not juice) I put a golf ball sized chunk in warm water and strain it by mashing with my fingers first. I use tamarind regularly and didn't really think of cleaning the strainer as too much trouble.

[chefj]

Agua Fresca Tamarindo in Mexico.

[luckyfatima]

Yes this juice appears in many of my favorite cuisines.

[Will Owen]

I bought a big block from out neighborhood Thai restaurant/grocery when we lived in Nashville. It really doesn't need freezing, probably not even refrigeration; just kept covered and cool, I suspect it's immortal. Mine lasted about eight years, but since we didn't want to transport it across country I very reluctantly discarded what remained.

[zamorski]

Make a big pot of sambar, the south Indian lentil soup. Uses a lot of tamarind to give it a nice tang.

[Peg]

Boil the whole block in water till you get a thick sludge. Pass through a plastic sieve and cool. Open freeze in dollops, then pop the frozen blobs in a ziploc.
Then simply add a blob to curries and whatever else takes your fancy.
I adore it in okra chickpea curry (a Madhur Jaffrey recipe), and with any vegetables plus coconut, black mustard seeds, tumeric, chiilies and curry leaves.

[ucanahdooit]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! These are great. I didn't even know pad thai had tamarind paste in it

[kosherfoodies]

or share it with me!

[ucanahdooit]

I would! Seriously!!! Haha. Live in BK??

[blinknoodle]

no prob. here is a good pace to start for the pad thai recipe: http://chezpim.com/cook/pad_thai_for_be

but what we need is your recipe for vietnamese sweet and sour soup. :)

[ucanahdooit]

Ask and you shall receive! I changed it around a bit though - I think what it calls for is overall moderate - so I add more fish sauce, tamarind sauce, chili, and cilantro, but i lessen the sweet factor (fewer pineapples). That is of course easy to change as your taste wishes :)

I also made my own fish stock, boiling together red snapper bones with lemongrass and shallot (the whole house smelled amazing) and used the snapper flesh instead of shrimp, just because it what what I had available. I hope you enjoy it!!!

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/rec...

[blinknoodle]

lovely! i wonder what i could sub for the shrimp as I have allergies. it looks like a gerat recipe, though. :)

[ucanahdooit]

Also, that is an awesome pad thai recipe.

[blinknoodle]

Pad thai is the obvious choice. It was gives it the real authentic taste.
Veganomicon has a great tamarind lentils recipe

[bushwickgirl]

There are many things to do with tamarind paste, as posters have suggested, and I also want to allay any spoilage fears you might have, as well wrapped tamarind paste lasts a very, very long time.

[alanbarnes]

Pad Thai.

[ucanahdooit]

mmm lahmejan is a nice choice! I love that stuff.

[tavegyl]

Tear off bits and eat it. It's a yummy snack.

[Rasam]

Make some Tamarind Chutney; here is one possible recipe, the internet is full of others:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

You can refrigerate or even freeze that for a while.

Serve as a dip for samosas, pakoras, etc.

You could make another batch of green chutney (cilantro/mint chutney) to serve as a second dip (one brown=tamarind, and the other green) for the snacks.

Another idea: make chhole aka chana masala (buy the spice mix specific for chana masala, e.g. Shan or MDH brand) on line or in an Indian store. You can mix some tamarind paste with that at the end, for a tangier end product (quantity would depend on the amount of chick peas you use). Use a little to start, and work up till you like the end result - don't overdo it.

Make Rasam :) (google for recipes

)

You can freeze the tamarind pulp / paste and use as needed.

[invinotheresverde]

We freeze it with lemonade to make popsicles.

[karykat]

We liked this salad with a tamarind dressing. (Didn't use very much tamarind, but did use it.)

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...

[maria lorraine]

Read the other threads on tamarind paste. I'm a big fan.

Amazing in marinades (I use a Ziploc bag) for pork or chicken.

Or, make homemade Coca-Cola.

[FoodFuser]

Along the beverage theme:

tamarind, honey, then stir in some seltzer.