Homemade Tamarind Concentrate (Paste)
In some households, tamarind paste or tamarind concentrate is used on a regular basis. It is readily available at your local Indian or Asian grocery store, but you can make it at home for a fraction of the cost. Having tamarind paste on hand is a big time saver and the best part…its got an incredible shelf life when stored in the refrigerator or freezer. So go ahead and make a batch today!
Ingredients
- Dried Tamarind – 7 oz (200 g)
- Water – 2 cups + ½ cup (divided)
Instructions
- Break tamarind into smaller pieces and place into a pressure cooker.
- Add 2 cups water and pressure cook for 3 whistles. Allow pressure to go down by itself.
- Open pressure cooker and mash tamarind with a potato masher to loosen the pulp from the fibers and seeds.
- Using a large colander or strainer and a spatula or spoon, strain tamarind pulp from the fibers and into a bowl.
- Place fibers back into the pressure cooker and add ½ cup water.
- If the tamarind is cool enough, use hands to further loosen the pulp.
- Once again, strain the tamarind pulp. After the second run, all of the pulp should be out.
- Discard the fibers and seeds.
- Place strained tamarind pulp back into the pressure cooker (uncovered) and allow the mixture to come to a boil.
- Boil for an additional minute and remove from stove.
- Allow tamarind pulp to cool and store in a clean jar or container.
- Store in the refrigerator or freezer. Shelf life is many months.