Tamarind - the pulp vs the ready-mix

The tamarind pulp is also known as assam. As the tamarind pods mature, the juicy pulp turns brown or reddish-brown. The pulp eventually dehydrates to a sticky paste enclosed by a few coarse stands of fiber. The pulp has a pleasing sweet-sour flavor and is high in both acid and sugar. It is also rich in vitamin B and high in calcium. How have you used tamarind/assam in your everyday cooking?

For me, these spicy tangy dishes such as Tamarind Prawns and Assam Fish - the blend of sour and spice (with a hint of sweet) in these dishes has always managed to please and satisfy my palate.

For these dishes, I have always turned to sticky tamarind pulp (usually comes in a small block). Before using, soak them in water, then remove the seeds and pulp, just to get the "juice".


They also come ready like that - seeds and pulp removed! And claimed to be a concentrate.


I have not used the ready-tamarind-mix before. I wonder if they will be as good as the pulp.


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6 comments:

  1. stay-at-home mum8/16/07, 4:02 PM

    Have not seen the ready to use type in Singapore. Usually use the pulp. And I love assa prawns! Yum.

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  2. Wandering Chopsticks8/16/07, 7:48 PM

    I've used the ready concentrate before and I found the flavor pretty lacking. I buy a block of seedless pulp! :P

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  3. Anonymous8/16/07, 9:25 PM

    SAHM, woooo...assam prawns...so so good. Sedap!

    wandering chopsticks, I have not opened that ready concentrate yet and I'm already dampened!
    But I just can't let it sit in the pantry, can I? I have to finish using it, then buy the pulp again!
    Seedless? I usually just see pulp with seeds. I wonder where to get the seedless one.

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  4. Little Corner of Mine8/17/07, 9:50 AM

    Ha! I'm going to post my Assam Heh recipe next week! Luckily my assam heh is different than yours. ;) Now I need to look for the seedless tamarind paste, easier. I also prefer the soft type, some tamarind block really hard one leh.

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  5. tigerfish8/17/07, 10:08 AM

    little corner of mine, later your dish sure tempt me to cook some kind of assam heh again lah! I have not seen seedless tamarind paste before leh. You know, I actually smuggled just one small block of tamarind pulp (with seeds) from Sg, coz I thought I could not find it here. But I've already seen it in Asian store here :( ...wasted the space in my luggage..should have smuggled something else....hee hee.

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  6. Anonymous8/18/07, 3:39 AM

    assam prawns and fish ... so nice and yummy

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