Where can I find Tamarind Concentrate

[monkee831]

I tried looking in King Soopers, Wild Oats, and Vitamin Cottage with no luck.

I looked in the spice aisle with no success. Could someone tell me what kind of container I'm looking for and what section of the store it might be hiding?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[sneezles]

If you're not opposed to buying online then I can recommend this site: Temple of Thai (http://www.templeofthai.com/thai_pickled_preserved/thai_pickled_preserved.html)

[bobmark226]

You need to find an Asian or, preferablt, Indian market or specialty store. It's not something that's stopped in supermarkets, even places like Whole Foods.

...and you'll probably never use the stuff again! :rolleyes:

Bob

[Kathy B]

I, also, have seen it at the Indian grocery store where I shop for specialty items.

[monkee831]

...and you'll probably never use the stuff again!


That's my thought too since this is the only time I recall ever seeing it in a recipe. Is there substitute that closely mimics the flavor?

[bobmark226]

from some website or other and I agree, it's an odd thing to have to replace, because it's a very odd, distinctive taste (and not one everybody likes!):

Substitutes for Tamarind, again there were a few answers:

There are a load of substitutes to Tamarind, like the lemon juice which is more convenient. But Tamarind has a subtle taste, to add the bitterness to a certain curries like Sambar, where a substitute is just not good enough.
if I've not got any tamarind I use a 50:50 mixture of lemon juice and redcurrant jelly.
Also if you don't like the stickness you can use Amchur powder instead (Green Mango Powder). The taste is almost the same.

Bob

[Kathy B]

Well, a search with the word tamarind actually came up with several hits, so you might find some new recipes to try once you buy it. Here is a link to a thread with a recipe using tamarind which also says you can sub an equal amount of lemon juice....

http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60558&highlight=tamarind

[monkee831]

Thanks for the information and tips everyone.

I'm going to try and find a source for it here in Denver. I might as well use the real deal since it sounds like it can't be recreated easily. It will be yet another adventure in cooking for me.;)

Thanks again!

[hmclaugh]

I just spent a long time looking for tamarind concentrate. With the help of gertdog. I looked everywhere for it. I ended up finding it in Whole Foods. I found the juice in Wegmans along with the pods. Goya sells the tamarind juice in a can. They also make tamarind chutney. I own them all now. The weird thing is that I found them in a multitude of places in the store. I found it in the hispanic, Indian and Asian sections.

The easiest place to find it if you cannot find an asian market is
ethnicgrocer.com

Hope this helps.
Hieka

[Vanessa]

Hi:
In Maryland I found at Giant suermarket in the hispanic section frozen tamarind fruit pulp (concentrate) They also have other flavors. Its Goya brand.

[claire797]

Monkee, if you really want to be authentic, you can make your own tamarind paste by soaking tamarind beans (they sell them in our produce section at the local grocery -- don't know about Denver, though!) and removing the pulp. It's kind of a pain, but worth the trouble in the long run. The concentrated paste is also good, too.

Tamarind has a very distinctive taste. I became hooked on it after eating it at my favorite Indian restaurant here in Austin. They make a really good chutney which is an excellent dipping sauce for papadum. I tried to find a copycat recipe a few months ago, and this one is very close.

http://www.outofthefryingpan.com/recipes/chutney.tamarind.shtml

Tamarind Chutney

(makes about 1 1/2 cups)

1 oz. (about 3 tablespoons) seedless tamarind paste
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tbsp. shredded coconut
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresly grated ginger
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3/4 tsp. salt

Pour the boiling water over the tamarind in a small heat-safe bowl and let sit about an hour, occasionally mashing with a fork.

Pour into blender or food processor and blend for 2 minutes.

Mash through a sive to get as much pulp as possible; discard the fiber.

Return juice to the processor and add all the other ingredients except cilantro. Once it is well blended, add the cilantro, adjust seasonings and allow to sit for a few hours for the flavors to blend.