Under a Tamarind Tree
Tamarind branches provide shade for animal and people
The tamarind tree (Tamarindus Indica L) is a large tree that can grow to be 80 to 100 feet tall. Native to Africa, it was introduced to Southeast Asia and South America where it is now well established. From India to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippine, Malaysia and Indonesia, tamarind trees play a significant role in Southeast Asian cuisine and culture. I have been fortunate to have traveled to Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam and have seen how our cultures and cuisines have evolved in almost the same ways around tamarind trees and their fruit.
young tamarind leaves
The tamarind tree bears leaves and flowers that can be cooked like vegetables.
Tamarind pods
When the fruits are green, we snack or pickle them. The mature brown pods are made into a candy or kept for cooking. My grandmother loved adding a young tamarind leaf to her fish soup, and she also cleaned her brass ware with tamarind until it was shiny and pinkish. When I was young I loved playing with tamarind flowers. They were small, but have a beautiful orchid-like flower. The wood from tamarind tree is perfect for making a butcher block or cutting board. And most importantly of all, the large tamarind tree provides shade and a social gathering place during the day.
Shops under tamarind tree, Myanmar
One of the first things you will want to learn about cooking with tamarind is how to turn a dry tamarind fruit paste or fruit pulp into a concentrate form that is ready to use in daily cooking. You won’t have any problem finding tamarind paste to buy; it is abundant in Asian and Latino markets. In southern Thailand we use tamarind concentrate in dipping sauces, sorbets, salad dressings, chutney, beverages, peanut sauce, stir-fry sauce, curry, soup, and any dish that needs a gentle acidic flavor to heighten it. You can also find new ways of your own to use this fruity, acidic concentrate; below are several photos of dishes from my hometown to give you ideas.Tamarind is one of the ingredients in Worcestershire sauce, but there is not a perfect substitute for it as the fruity flavor of tamarind is so unique.
Tamarind Fruit is a Heart of Southeast Asian Cooking
Chicken Soup with Tamarind Added for Sour Flavor
Above is my home town spicy soup similar to Tom Kha Gai (chicken sweet and sour soup with galangal and coconut milk). Tamarind gives the soup a nice gentle sour and refreshing taste.
Pomelo Salad with Prawns, Fried Shallots and Tamarind Dressing
Tamarind concentrate is used in salad dressings to add a nice layer of flavors to a fruit salad. When combines with palm sugar, it provides a sophisticated balance to the flavors.
Grilled Jackfish with Phuket Tamarind Sauce
Phuket’s signature tamarind sauce (Nam Jim Makham) for grilled jackfish over charcoal husks.
Kai Leuk Koey - Son-in-law eggs
The famous Thai Kai Look Keuy, Son-In-Law Eggs, has a well-balanced, gentle and fruity sour taste from tamarind, the sweet of palm sugar, a highlight of fish sauce, and the excitement of a few pinches of chili powder. It also has umami—or savoriness—one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty.
Phad Thai with Tamarind Sauce
Tamarind concentrate is an important part of Phad Thai, the renowned dish of Thailand. We can’t call it Phad Thai without tamarind concentrate!
Sour Curry Prawns with Cha-Om Omelette
Sour curry is a non-coconut curry soup. Tamarind is an important part of the fish broth that gives the sour curry fish or seafood a harmonious balance. It’s flavor profile combines fruity, sour-sweet, and spicy.
Stir-Fried Prawns in Tamarind Sauce
Stir-fried prawns with tamarind sauce is another signature dish from Phuket.
Tamarind Candy from Thailand
Tamarind Fruit
Makham มะขาม
Thailand ranks first in the world in the production of Tamarind and has the largest tamarind plantation in the world. Tamarind fruits resemble brown, flat, fava beans. When ripe, the fruit has a long, dark-brown pod with 5 to 8 seeds. Remove the shell, vein and seeds to get the dried and sometimes sticky fruit flesh. It will stay fresh for a year.
Two varieties of tamarind from Thailand are available in the US markets. One of them is the sweet variety, which you seldom see. It comes in a beautiful box with many good looking brown pods that you can crack open and eat like any dried fruit. It has a sweet fruity taste, reminiscent of dried apricots.
Tamarind pods, tamarind concentrate and tamarind paste
The sour variety of tamarind is the most common and the most important for Thai and Southeast Asia cooking. It is available in Asian markets either as a package of dried fruit in a 16-ounce rectangular brick, or ready to use in a plastic jar. The three forms of tamarind are shown in the photo above. The dried fruit form give a purer sour flavor and doesn’t need refrigeration. The concentrate form must be kept in the refrigerator or freezer until ready for use. There is no best substitute for tamarind.
How to make a ready-to-use tamarind concentrate
Nam Makham
น้ำมะขาม
Yield: 2 cups
8 ounces tamarind flesh, about half of a 16-ounce package 2 1/2 cups boiling waterPlace the chunk of tamarind into a large bowl, then pour boiling water over it and let it sit until the water is cool enough to handle. Massage and squeeze the tamarind in the water with both hands so the water and hands rub the tamarind to make a thick concentrate; the pulp and liquid should resemble a thick soup. Strain liquid though a large sieve into a medium pot. Squeeze the tamarind to get out all of the liquid, then discard the solid. Bring the strained liquid to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Store and keep in refrigerator for two weeks, or in the freezer for 6 months.
Pranee’s note: To be safe, I recommend only using Tamarind grown in Thailand in my recipes.
© 2011 Pranee Khruasanit Halvorsen I Love Thai cooking Pranee teaches Thai Cooking classes in the Seattle area. Her website is: I Love Thai cooking.com .
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iLoveThaiCooking & Pranee's Thai Kitchen
Pranee's Thai Kitchen 
Wow, that is a huge tamarind tree in the picture; the ones I used to climb when I was a kid, where smaller.
It comes in all sizes. That huge one can be more than 50 years old. People don’t cut them when it is not necessary.
Sawasdee Krub!
Thought you would say about vinegar thai restaurant use in Pad Thai sauce. Wondering how different they are? Very great article na krub.
Sawasdee Kha,
Thank you for the comment. As much as I know in Thailand and in Seattle, Thai cooks and restaurant owners use 5% distilled white vinegar for cooking. We seldom use other kinds. The different in other kinds of vinegars could be from sources and the percentage of acidity. I will have to keep this topic in mind for another blog idea. Khob Khun Kha!
Pranee
The sugar content of Indian and Thai tamarand is different. In Thailand, people cultivate a special variety of sweet tamarind that has little or no bitterness. This variety is considered to be the best type of tamarind for culinary use.
Thanks for your comment. I agree. I don’t use tamarind product from India. It tastes totally different: too tart and less fruity. It tastes almost like from different fruit.
What gorgeous photos! I love tamarind and enjoyed learning more about it. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Hannah, these are my photos over the course of time. I didn’t include about health benefit, I was afraid that it could be too long.
Hi Pranee,
If my recipe calls for 2/3 cup of tamarind concentrate and I’m using the kind that comes in a plastic jar, do I need to dilute it at all or just scoop 2/3 cup out of the jar?
Hi Joe, you don’t need to dilute them but do shake well before using. The rest can go to the freezer or the fridge. Thank you for the question.
I was curious as you gave a wonderful explaination and recipe for the tamarind concentrate from the paste form…do you have a recipe to make the concentrate from the fruit itself? Also the base reason for my curiosity was I was trying to find a ‘from scratch’ recipe for making Thai Iced Tea. If you would happen to have a version, I would love to read it.
All the best and I look forward to following your blog.
Salamat,
Shawn
When you remove the pod, vein and seed then you can follow the recipe. A well-packed tamarind and the paste are basically the same. However most tamarind pods in outside Thailand are sweet variety, not for cooking.
we have a number of amazing Thai restaurants and groceries in Columbus, OH and I will have to check and see if they have authentic Thai tamarind….that being said, if I use the paste and make the concentrate….what recipe do you suggest for thai tea/coffee?
[…] 3/4 cup 1/2 cup tamarind concentrate, freshly made or from the can 1/4 cup brown sugar or […]
[…] How to Make Ready-to Use Tamarind Concentrate (praneesthaikitchen.com) […]
I have tamarind concentrate but my peanut sauce recipe calls for 3 teaspoons tamarind juice….I can’t seem that find a conversion chart, please help
Sorry, I meant to say 3 Tablespoons, not teaspoons
Hi Jim, you may use your tamarind concentrate. It is more common term from liquid extract from tamarind paste. the amount of 3 teaspoons sounds resonable. You always can taste the sauce and add more later if you need to the balance of sour. Thank you!
To make a cup of peanut sauce, start with 1 tablespoon. Add more as you cook and taste. You will then learn how tamarind make a different to the sauce.
I ended using 1teaspoon in the recipe I used. The flavor was good. Next time I make it I will increase the amount of tamarind concentrate I use, just to change it up and see how more tamarind will influence taste
Sound like a good learning plan.
Hi, Pranee. I plan to make a tamarind sauce for spring rolls, the recipe calls for tamarind concentrate but I only found the sweet tamarind fruit, can I use that instead or the flavor will be far from sour tamarind?
Here’s an image of the fruit: http://www.adastrapacific.co.uk/sweet-tamarind-fruit-1-box-of-500gms–back-in-stock-4487-p.asp
Thank you.
The sweet tamarind is to eat like eating dry fruit, it is sweet. For cooking we use tamarind paste ( a brick of brown paste in the photo) to make tamarind concentrate or buying already made Tamarind Concentrate like in the photo (in the container). You can get them at Asian Market or online store. Thank you!
My recipe asks for 4 tablespoons of tamarind juice and I only have the concentrate. I don’t know how much concentrate to use to dilute to to make it into juice. Can you please advise?
I saw somewhere a recipe said “put concentrate into a measuring cup and add enough water to a 1/4 cup and stir”. But it didn’t say how much concentrate to use. Please help. Thank you.
Hi Frances,
I wonder which recipe are you using. Anyway, the most common term for liquid tamarind is tamarind concentrate. Tamarind water could mean the same thing or less concentrate but it is not a common term. The best suggestion for you is to use concentrate in a small amount and taste your cooking to your liking. The purpose of tamarind is to add fruity sour to your cooking both sweet and savory. There is not wrong way or right way, simply balance the flavor of the dish to make it harmony with sweet, sour, salty and spicy.
Hi. I have a massaman curry recipe that asks for 150ml tamarind juice. I can only find tamarind purée in a 220g jar. It’s from Malaysia. What would you recommend?
Please sent me photo. Each country makes different product. Otherwise use 1 teaspoon at the time enough to for the sour give some nice taste to curry but not to be too noticeable. I hope this help. Thank you.
Hi, Pranee. I received some tamarind pods, the shell doesn’t crack easily and the flesh is green but not overly sour. I was wondering if this can be used to make tamarind concentrate? And if not, will these pods ripen(brown flesh) eventually or will they stay unripe?
The tamarind pod at green stage is not for making concentrate. It is for snacking or incorporate into dish as a sour fruit for sour taste in a soup or curry.
Great post! I will be making my own tamarind concentrate from now on! Thank you!
[…] this recipe, you will need tamarind concentrate. This can be made at home by boiling unshelled tamarind in water until the flesh falls away from the seed, boiling the […]
Thank you very much for this great awesome information. I really enjoyed shelling and taking the seeds out of the tamarind fruit. I have never heard of this fruit before and am so glad to have discovered it. I love the sour taste. It reminds me of sour candy.
You are welcome! Try out more recipes how to make drink from this site as well.