[Sca-cooks] Emergency question about tamarind paste

[Sue Clemenger]

I've never worked with tamarind--what are you making? Is it possible for
you to do two batches, one thinner and one thicker? My first thought
would be to make sure you have the same amount of liquid as called for
in the recipe, but adding different amounts of water or liquid would
probably affect the strength of the tamarind flavor.  Hmmm....maybe you
could taste your concentrate straight out of the jar, and then thinned a
bit, and then thinned a bit more, and see how the taste changes.
A paste sounds thicker to my mind than a concentrate.  I'd imagine that
if you were doing a soup or stew thing with this, taste might be more
important than relative amounts of liquid, but if you were doing, oh,
bread or a pastry or something, the liquid levels would be of more
consequence....
I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now! <g>
--maire, off to do more dishes....

Tara Sersen Boroson wrote:
> 
> Help please!  I have a recipe that called for 1/3 c. tamarind paste
> mixed with 3/4 c. water - heat in pan, push through sieve to remove
> seeds, resultant puree should measure about 1 c.
> 
> I went to my local Indian grocer (awesome place, by the way, in
> Montgomeryville for those of you in the area.)  I couldn't find anything
> called tamarind "paste," but found tamarind "concentrate".  I figured it
> would be the same or very similar, so I bought a jar.  This stuff has no
> seeds, which makes my job a bit easier.  But, it's also a bit thinner
> than I thought it would be.  When I read "paste" I assumed it would be
> about the consistancy of peanut butter.  Instead it's more like apple
> butter.
> 
> The alternative was to take fresh tamarinds and simmer them, mash and
> strain the pulp and mix 1/2 c. of the pulp with 1/2 c. of the water
> strained from the pot.  So, I'm guessing the result should be thinner
> than applesauce but I'm not positive since I've never worked with fresh
> tamarinds.
> 
> So, should I thin it down as much as the recipe calls for?
> 
> Thank you!