Making Tamarind PasteTamarind, a red-fleshed, podlike fruit, adds sweet-sour notes to dishes such as spicy Goanese pork stew. Instead of using a ready-made concentrate, which can be bitter, cooks make a paste from blocks of pure tamarind pulp. Here’s how to do it.

Place an 8-oz. block of tamarind pulp in a nonreactive bowl; add 2 cups boiling water and let sit 30 minutes.

Pour into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Squeeze pulp to extract a smooth, thick paste; discard fibers.

Scrape paste from bottom of sieve into the bowl. Store chilled up to 2 weeks or frozen up to 3 months. Makes 2 cups.

Making Tamarind Paste

Tamarind, a red-fleshed, podlike fruit, adds sweet-sour notes to dishes such as spicy Goanese pork stew. Instead of using a ready-made concentrate, which can be bitter, cooks make a paste from blocks of pure tamarind pulp. Here’s how to do it.

By Kellie Evans

Published on July 21, 2014

Place an 8-oz. block of tamarind pulp in a nonreactive bowl; add 2 cups boiling water and let sit 30 minutes.

Pour into a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl. Squeeze pulp to extract a smooth, thick paste; discard fibers.

Scrape paste from bottom of sieve into the bowl. Store chilled up to 2 weeks or frozen up to 3 months. Makes 2 cups.

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