A beginner's guide to Tamarind (Asam Jawa) including how to cook and store it + 35 easy tamarind recipes that go beyond Indian recipes; Tamarind Chutney Sauce, Sweet & Sour Pad Thai, Spicy Fish Curry, a Tamarind Drink and more! Perfect for Christmas dinner or a regular weeknight meal.
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How to Use
Tamarind fruit can be found in its:
- unripe green form: although it's quite hard to find- there's no need to de-seed, just chop it up and add to tamarind chutney or pickles
- ripe (brown) form: it has a hard shell which you break open, remove the seeds and use the pulp. (More below on how to use the pulp to make homemade tamarind paste)
- processed into a block of tamarind pulp
- paste form: this is the easiest way to use tamarind- most Singaporean tamarind recipes use tamarind paste. The pulp has already been removed from the fruits, de-seeded and pressed into blocks. Usually, Singaporeans add water to this paste, then squeeze it through a cheesecloth to get assam water (tamarind juice). If you want to make your own tamarind paste, scroll down for instructions.
- powder form (dehydrated tamarind)
Note: ripe brown tamarind and tamarind paste have long shelf lives when refrigerated
One of the simplest tamarind sauce recipes would be to mix tamarind paste with fish sauce, some sugar or maple syrup, fresh red chillies and red onions (sliced) and maybe a tinge of lime juice to make a spicy Asian salad dressing with a tangy flavor.
Rice & Noodles
Spicy Fried Rice
Cabbage Rice
Tamarind is wonderfully versatile- besides the spicy Thai fried rice shown above, it's also used in Indian cuisine to make tamarind rice which, despite using some of the same main ingredients, tastes very different!
Mee Siam Noodle Soup
Stir Fried Noodles
If you prefer your noodles stir-fried, there's also a dry stir-fried version:
Pad Mee Korat
Pad Thai
Snacks
Chaat
Egg Rolls
Seafood
Salmon
Prawns
Meat
Did you know that tamarind is a great meat tenderiser (thanks to its acidity)?
It works particularly well with thick slabs of beef and pork. Don't marinate for too long though or the acid in the tamarind will affect the meat's texture.
Beef Satay
Rendang
Rice Paper Salad
Roasted Chicken
Thai Chicken
Sauces
Tamarind Sauce
Curry
Assam Fish
A favourite Singaporean dish is assam fish, in which fish is cooked with tamarind and sugar. Although not as common, I like to add coconut milk to make an assam fish curry from time-to-time.
Kashmiri Curry
Shrimp Curry
Mangalorean Curry
Chickpeas
Potato Curry
Vindaloo
Vegetarian Curry
Chutneys & Pickles
Eggplant Chutney
Bittergourd Pickle
Ginger Pickle
Dessert
For Asian summer recipes, click here.
Drinks
An easy recipe is to boil the pulp of this tropical fruit, strain then add sugar- voila, tamarind tea! (I also have other Asian drinks recipes here if you're looking for a beverage.)
What is Tamarind?
Growing up in Singapore, we had so many tamarind recipes so I was rather surprised to learn that this fruit actually a legume that originates from Africa! (Alternative names for tamarind include tamarindo, Indian date and Asam Jawa.)
Besides being a staple ingredient in many South East Asian recipes- for example, tamarind is a key ingredient in famous dishes such as Pad Thai- it is also found in Indian food and Mexican cuisine. For example, it's sometime used to add acidity to Madras Curry.
This list of tamarind recipes are mainly not vegan, so if you're on a plant-based diet, click here for vegan tamarind recipes or here for South Asian vegetarian dishes.
I always say Greedygirlgourmet is about bold flavours and tamarind is a classic example of the type of flavour I love: it's very strong and a little of the sour pulp goes a long way! The flavor is sweet, tangy yet tart, with riper fruits being less sour- it often needs a bit of brown sugar to round up the taste.
Fun fact: tamarind is actually used to make Worcestershire sauce!
Health Benefits
This tropical fruit has a lot of Vitamin C. However, do note that most tamarind recipes which use unripe tamarind will also call for ample sugar to round up the taste, which isn't the best for one's health or weight!
Substitutes
- As they're both sour, Western recipes sometimes point to lemon juice as a tamarind alternative- they both have a tart flavor after all.
- Others say to use Worcestershire sauce, since it includes tamarind.
- However, as they're not perfect substitutes, I'd say it depends on what you're making- I'm not sure anyone who's eaten authentic Pad Thai would find it acceptable cooked with lemon instead of tamarind!
How to Make Tamarind Paste
After opening the fruit, remove as much of the seeds' membranes inside as possible, then soak the remaining pulp in boiling water. Once it is soft (about 15 minutes), sieve the pulp to filter any of the leftover skin, seeds and what-not that you may have missed- you will need to push down hard on the sieve.
Toss the part left it in sieve, and re-add the water in which the tamarind soaked back to the strained- out mass. You can add more or less water depending on whether your tamarind recipe calls for tamarind paste or water.
How to Store
Homemade tamarind water or paste should be refrigerated or frozen, if you don't need to use it so soon.
The more watery your paste it, the shorter the time it can last in the fridge. Thanks to the high acid content, homemade sour tamarind paste can last for up to a few months in the fridge.
Shop bought tamarind paste can be stored in the pantry till opened (in its unopened state, it has a long shelf life), after which it should be popped into the chiller to help it last longer.
Where to Buy
In Asia, tamarind is commonly available in grocery stores but in the West, you may need to check out the local Asian grocery stores or order it online.
If you've found these tamarind recipes useful, please do leave a comment or share on your social media! Thank you! 🙂
AntonioVaw says
While most Nyonya recipes call for long list of ingredients and tedious preparations, tamarind prawn assam prawn is surprisingly easy to make and takes only a few ingredients: tamarind, sugar, and salt.
Zen says
Hi Antonio, indeed tamarind prawns are easy and delicious! 🙂 Haven't made them a lot lately as trying to cut down my sugar intake, but I just bought a box of prawns today so... 😛 Is it 1 of your fave Nyonya recipes?