What Is Tamarind?
Tamarind is extracted from the pods of the evergreen tamarind tree.
The tamarind tree is a tropical tree that originated in east Africa. The main growing country is now India but the tamarind tree is grown in such diverse tropical locations as Florida, Hawaii, the Caribbean, Mexico, northern Brasil.
The sticky, brown pulp is extracted from the pods of the tamarind tree. The extracted pulp is squeezed into flat blocks and the blocks are processed to produce tamarind paste and concentrate.
Tamarind does not have much of an aroma and has a sour, fruity taste.
Tamarind is added to curries (such as vindaloo) as well as pickles and chutneys to make best use of the sour taste.
Tamarind sauce, served in Indian restaurants to accompany other dishes, is made by mixing tamarind concentrate with water.
