Tamarind
The sour pulp of a tropical pod, dissolved in water as a drink across Latin America, South Asia and West Africa. It is a cooking souring agent first in most of its range.
Identity
- Botanical name
- Tamarindus indica
- Family
- Fabaceae
- Part used
- Fruit
- Origin
- Tropical Africa
- Drunk in
- Mexico, India, Thailand, West Africa
Character
Sharply sour with a dark molasses sweetness behind it, and a thickness closer to a cordial than an infusion. It is not drunk unsweetened anywhere it is traditional, which is worth knowing before judging a first unsweetened cup.
Notes: sour fruit, date, molasses
History
Native to Africa and carried to India so early that its Arabic name means 'Indian date', which misattributes its origin. It reached the Americas through the Atlantic trade and became a staple drink ingredient in Mexico and the Caribbean.
How it is drunk
Agua de tamarindo in Mexico, sold from the same glass jars as hibiscus. Imli in Indian chutneys and drinks, asam in Indonesian and Malaysian cooking. Almost always sweetened.
Production
Pods are cracked and the sticky pulp separated from seed and fibre, then pressed into blocks or sold as paste. Block tamarind must be soaked and strained before use.
Preparation
Cold infusion · Decoction
Boiling and decoction
1–3 g/100 ml · 98–100 °C · 10 min
Related botanicals
Comparisons
- Baobab vs tamarind — Two sour African and tropical pod fruits used to acidify drinks and dishes, and neither is juicy — one is chalky and the other sticky, and both are prepared cold.
- Bael fruit vs tamarind — Two tropical pod and shell fruits used as drinks across South and Southeast Asia, one sweet and resinous and one sharply sour.
Evidence for this page
This page is TeaHQ synthesis throughout. No external source stands behind any statement on it, including the botanical name. Twenty of the 150 botanicals have had their names and distribution checked against a taxonomic authority and this is not one of them.
Brewing parameters here are typical practice for the category rather than measurements of this plant, and each set says so.
This page makes no safety claim. It describes what Tamarind is, where it comes from and how it is prepared — not what it does to a person. The absence of a safety note here is not a statement that the plant is safe. How TeaHQ handles this.