Tamarind Sauce

Tamarind is used to refer to seed pods having a fleshy pulp inside and also, the large tropical evergreen tree that bears the fruit. The unripe pods have greenish brown skin with a tough, whitish-colored flesh. At ripened stage, the skin and the pulp inside turn brownish in color. You can easily separate the outer covering of ripened tamarind seed pods. Both the green and ripe tamarind can be eaten, though most people find the unripe ones very sour.

The ripened tamarind fruit taste is something very unique; you will find it sweet and sour. After adding salt or sugar, you can consume the fruit alone (either in raw or cooked form). For easy usage in food recipes and storage purposes, tamarind fruits are processed in the form of sauces, pulps, pastes, jellies, etc. All these variants are sold in food stores and grocery centers. You can also try making tamarind sauce at home by using fresh ripened fruits. Except for removal of seeds, the sauce recipe is very simple.

What is Tamarind Sauce?

As per food data, tamarind fruit production is highest in India. Consequently, consumption rate of tamarind fruit and its products is high in India and Thailand. No wonder tamarind sauce is widely used in Asian food recipes. For replacing this sauce, the substitute is made by combining lime juice with sugar. Given below is some information about tamarind sauce, which you may find interesting.

Calories in Tamarind Sauce
Health conscious people are very concerned about the nutritional value of tamarind sauce. Needless to say, calories in this condiment varies according to the ingredients used in making the sauce. The more sugar you add, the higher will be the calorie count. Two tablespoons (30 g) serving of typical tamarind sauce provide 50 calories. Out of this, fat content accounts to 14 calories.

Ingredients of Tamarind Sauce
You can select the ingredients for making tamarind sauce according to your taste and liking. As per your taste, you can make it plain by using only sugar, water and preservative ingredients. For flavorful sauce, you need culinary herbs and spices, like onion, ginger, garlic, nutmeg and cinnamon. For the liquid part, vegetable broth, chicken broth and red wine are popularly used in this sauce.

Making Tamarind Sauce
So, you want to know how to make tamarind sauce? For making regular sauce, you need the following ingredients - tamarind pulp (seedless), water, rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt. Take 2 cups water in a saucepan and soak 1 ounce tamarind overnight. Next day, blend it well to separate the pulp part. Strain and discard the fiber portion.

To the tamarind juice, add cup sugar and 1 teaspoon salt. Heat over medium low heat and stir well, so that sugar dissolves completely. Add rice wine vinegar and simmer for 10-15 minutes, while stirring continuously. When the quantity reduces to about half, remove from heat. Your tamarind sauce will resemble a light brown syrup. It can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 months.

In case of non availability of ripened tamarind fruits, you can use sugar-coated tamarind candies. The only trick is to use appropriate quantity of candies to bring out the taste of tamarind. Regarding tamarind sauce usage, it can be added in nearly all types of dishes. Deep-fried fish served with a savory tamarind sauce is a special treat for non-vegetarians. So, try preparing tamarind sauce at home, and use it to spice up various dishes.