All About Tamarind Paste

Hello Ladies,
Tamarind plays an important role in Indian cooking.Rasam, the tongue-tickler..has this as main ingredient.To get tasty rasam or other dish with tamarind as ing,the sourness of tamarind is the main key.
Here are few of my experience with diff products

1.Normal Tamarind Fruit;
Lakshmi Brand and others : To get the maximum taste out of these ,lot of fruit has to be soaked.Soaking in hot water gives more juice.But to make large qty, this gets tedious.Back home i used to get spl Dosai puli which tastes..awesome.
2.Tamarind concentrate/paste

a.Tamicon Brand;The taste is good.Rasam and kolumbu is gr8 with this..except there is a blackinh tinge added to the dish
b.Laksmi Brand: Liquidy one.The sweetness along with the sour spoild the taste of rasam.
c.Joy Brand: I give number one to this.Very good taste.The puliyodare made from this is heavenly.

Please share you brands and experiences.

Hi Supriya,

Palatable thread !

I use both whole tamarind and Tamarind paste.

Mostly i make use of Laxmi brand Tamarind or Tiger brand if the other is not available,
I use this for Sambar, Vetra kozhambu, Milagu Kozhambu and Puli kaachal (for making puliyodharai)

I use Tamicon/laxmi Tamarind paste..this i use for Rasams, Thogayals (chutneys like mint,coriander,ginger..etc), some puli kootus too.

As you mentioned, I always soak whole Tamarind in hot water( my mom's tip) and always filter it well before use..that way all the seeds,small debris..all gets filtered .

For Tamarind paste, I mix it with hot water and then start adding/using in dishes.

But, you have written, more puli needs to be soaked for Laxmi brand..but I feel this makes it very sour..probably what I get is "Pudhu Puli" (new ones) and it is also lighter in color. So, I need to soak a little less than normal.

Usually, my mom says "Pazha Puli" (Old ones) are dark in color and are not very sour..meaning that gives a balanced taste in all the dishes.

Before I used to add a little of tamarind paste for making mint/coriander rice..but now I substitute it with lemon juice at the very end..this way the green color is maintained (chitvish tips)


Cheers
Krithika

Hi Kirthika,
Good to know about u r method of using tamarind in cooking.To make straining of tamarind pulp easier..i use a tea strainer for this purpose.I find it more hassle free than doing with hand.how do u strain pulp?

Originally Posted by SupriyaDinesh

Hi Kirthika,
Good to know about u r method of using tamarind in cooking.To make straining of tamarind pulp easier..i use a tea strainer for this purpose.I find it more hassle free than doing with hand.how do u strain pulp?

Hi Supriya,
U know an asian store they have sticky tamarind, that one is good for pullisadham. I don't know that name....I will let you know tomarrow brand name u try with u love it...
Supriya what is your lunch today yummee! yummeee! Pulisadham?
thanks
Devi...

hey..devi...pulisadham comes one a week in our menu..may be i'll have it on thurs or friday..do come for lunch..

Hi Supriya,

I use a big juice strainer.(imagine a big tea strainer) which is also netted.





It is similar to the one I've posted above, but black handle, netted body, stainless steel on the outside but no hooks. The brand name is "softsides"..this I got from Walmart.

For me, i find tea strainers to be small, because we can pour only little at a time.

Cheers
Krithika

Originally Posted by SupriyaDinesh

Hi Kirthika,
Good to know about u r method of using tamarind in cooking.To make straining of tamarind pulp easier..i use a tea strainer for this purpose.I find it more hassle free than doing with hand.how do u strain pulp?

Hey ya!!
tell me!! tell exact day I'll be there!!!
thanks Supriya for inviting me ...
ennakum serthu nee sapedu...
thanks
devi...

Hi Kirthika..thnx for the pic and info.Yeah..since i prepare only small qty of rasam etc tea strainer is just fine..will try this when i need to do large qty

Hi devi..sure..u r welcome

Hi,


Has anybody ever tried making pulihora with puliogre ? If so is it good ?

kodavati.can u be more speecific..coz i dint get u r question.Do u mean to ask about the ready-mix puliyogare?I havent tried it.