Choosing Between Tamarind Pulp Paste or Concentrate.
Tamarind, in addition to it's pure form with the shell still on, comes in three main forms. They are, pulp, paste (often labelled as concentrate), and a thick, black concentrate. You might find you want to substitute one for another in a recipe because it's either more convenient, or it's all you have on hand.
However, knowing the difference between the different types of tamarind products will help you decide which to use.
Making Tamarind Paste from a Block
Tamarind pulp is often sold in a plastic covered block. It is the tamarind pulp with the shell and seeds removed. The fiber of the tamarind is still present.
For use, it requires being soaked in hot water for a time. The pulp is then strained through a sieve, leaving the fiber behind.
The result is a smooth tamarind paste.
Ready made Regular Tamarind Paste (labelled concentrate)
To save time, you can purchase tamarind paste in a jar or a tube. This is comparable to buying herbs in a tube such as cilantro paste. You can use it in roughly equal parts to the paste you would create from a tamarind block as described above. One tablespoon of this stuff is about equal to 1.5 tablespoons of the homemade soaked and strained tamarind paste.
This type is commonly comes from Thailand in a jar. You may find it labelled as Nuöc Me Chua if it is not in English.
It is important to note, this is the "regular" paste, but is sometimes labelled as concentrate.
Tamarind Concentrate - the thick black stuff
Tamarind concentrate is super thick and really dark. It's sometimes described as almost black in color. It is almost like a gel. This concentrate is usually comes from India. The most common brand in US and Canada is Tamicon.
The rule for the thick, black tamarind concentrate is to dilute one part concentrate with two parts water.
What about flavor?
Generally speaking, the homemade paste made from soaking and straining a tamarind block of pulp gives the best flavor. It just tastes fresher and less processed. In, fact I use the tamarind block in a Mint Peanut Chutney recipe for this exact reason. That's not to say you can't still have great results from tamarind in a jar.
A good comparison would be using freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of the bottled and pasteurized lemon juice. The latter may be more convenient, but freshly squeezed will give you better results, including flavor.
Hey, Leave a comment!
What type of tamarind do you prefer to use? How did it work for you? I'd love to know. Leave a comment below and share your experience.
Rich Komen says
Most recipes call for tamarind paste...If I use Tamicon Tamarind concentrate...what proportion of concentrate is required to roughly equal the paste called for in the recipe?
Anton says
Hi Rich,
Here are two situations for you:
METHOD 1 = You will be diluting the Tamicon Concentrate and using it exactly the same as paste.
METHOD 2 = You just want to use a smaller amount of Tamicon Concentrate into your recipe without bothering to dilute.
METHOD 1 - DILUTED
For the Tamicon brand, I'd recommend two parts water to one part concentrate to achieve the same taste and volume. After it's diluted, it's interchangeable with the paste. So 1 cup of either will be now be equal if the Tamicon concentrate is diluted. Start with 1/3rd of the concentrate (multiply by .33) and add 2/3rds of your choice of liquid, likely water.
Here are some examples to illustrate method 1:
A metric example would be 100ml paste is equivalent to 33ml of Tamicon concentrate undiluted. Then add 66ml of water. Now you have 100ml of paste equivalent. (technically 99ml)
An imperial example would be 1 cup paste is equal to 1/3 cup Tamicon concentrate undiluted. Then add 2/3 cup of water. Now you have 1 cup of paste equivalent.
Another would be 3 tbsp of paste is equal to 1 tbsp of Tamicon concentrate undiluted. Then add 2 tbsp of water. Now you have 3 tbsp of paste equivalent.
METHOD 2 - NOT DILUTED
If you don't want to (or can't) dilute it, and would like to use the concentrate at full strength (just less of it), a direct proportion would be 1/3rd of the concentrate would be needed to equal whatever amount is asked for as normal paste.
Here are some examples to illustrate method 2:
A metric example would be 100ml paste would be equivalent to 33ml of Tamicon concentrate undiluted.
An imperial example would be 1 cup paste is equal to 1/3 cup Tamicon concentrate undiluted.
Another would be 3 tbsp of paste is equal to 1 tbsp of Tamicon concentrate undiluted.
Keep in mind, method 2 will result in less liquid for your recipe, making it less moist. That may not be an issue if you're making a curry or stew which has a lot of liquid already.
But, for baking, you'll want to keep the volume of liquid exactly the same as the recipe calls for.
Hope that helps you out.
Anton
YuLing says
The recipe call for tamarind concentrate and I can only find tamarind paste. Please let me know how do I convert?
Thanks
YuLing
Anton says
Hi YuLing,
Excellent question.
Since tamarind provides a tartness/sourness to your recipe, you'll want to maintain that same tartness/sourness while converting.
Because tamarind paste can be described as 1/3 concentrate and 2/3 water, the paste is only 1/3 times as strong (tart) as the concentrate.
This means you'll multiple your paste by 3 to get the same strength of taste as the concentrate. (when added to your recipe)
FOR EXAMPLE:
The recipe calls for 1 TBSP of concentrate. 1 TBSP X 3 = 3 TBSP of paste. You would use 3 TBSP of paste in your recipe.
However, realise this will provide slightly more liquid to your recipe. This may or may not be an issue for you.
If your recipe is tolerant of a bit more liquid, you should be fine. An example would be a dish that has a large volume of other ingredients compared to the tamerind.
If the tamarind is a huge proportion of the ingredients, the extra liquid may affect the result.
The only way to remedy the latter (a huge proportion of tamarind) would be to reduce the paste over heat. You would evaporate some of the liquid until you have the same amount of concentrate originally asked for in your recipe.
FOR EXAMPLE:
In the previously mentioned example, reduce the 3 TBSP of paste down to 1 TBSP. The 1 TBSP remaining would now be basically the same as the concentrate. In fact, it is literally concentrate at this point.
Hopefully this will not be the case for you. But it's something to consider.
Please let us know how you did, and how things turned out. Let me know if you have any additional questions!
Take Care
Anton