Homemade Sweet Tamarind Sauce

While living in Trinidad, I had the pleasure of tasting many versions of homemade Trini tamarind (“tambran”) sauce. Now that we’re enjoying our own piece of tropical land in Dominica at Beyond Vitality Nature Camp, we have a lovely organic tamarind tree. It was about time for me to create my own healthy version of this traditional Caribbean recipe.

With some practice, this flavourful sweet sauce is what I came up with. It makes a great alternative to ketchup, and it’s a prefect touch of sweetness as a sauce addition to any savoury snack or dish - especially breadfruit chips!

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="aligncenter" width="990"] Breadfruit chips and sweet tamarind sauce[/caption][caption id="attachment_1796" align="aligncenter" width="990"] Tamarind pods from our tamarind tree[/caption]

Homemade Trinidad Tamarind Sauce

Ingredients:

• 10-20 servings

10 ripe sweet tamarinds, shelled and de-veined (or 1 cup tamarind paste/pulp/concentrate)

2 to 3 cups water

½ tsp baking soda (optional – cuts some of the sour taste of tamarind and helps to break it down)

3 tbsps raw cane sugar or honey (or to your desired sweetness)

1 pinch of Himalayan salt (or unrefined sea salt)

2-3 cloves of garlic – crushed

2-3 leaves chadon beni (culantro)*

1/4 medium onion – finely chopped

1/2 tsp scotch bonnet pepper – chopped finely (or seasoning pepper)

Some of the tamarind pods used to make our sauce.

*Note: Chadon beni (or Shadow beni is some countries) is a leafy herb native to the West Indies and Central America. Cilantro/coriander can be used as an alternative as it is similar in flavour, however, chadon beni is much more intense and potent in flavour. Use it judiciously.

Directions:

Once you have removed the shell from the tamarind, rinse the tamarind under running water - this is to make sure any bits of the shell still on the fruit are completely removed.

[caption id="attachment_1795" align="aligncenter" width="990"] Cracking the tamarind pods.[/caption]

You will see a boney like membrane or vein running along the fruit, remove that too if possible, otherwise, transfer the tamarind to a saucepan. Pour into the saucepan, two cups of water and bring the pan to a fast boil, you will see the tamarind begin to dissolve, you can help the fruit separate from the seed by mashing it with a potato masher. If the liquid starts to thicken, add more water and lower the heat. This should take 5 -7 minutes.

Sprinkle in the baking soda (it will start bubbling and frothing as it makes contact with the acid). Quickly stir it into the hot pulp until it disappears. This is totally optional, but can help cut some of the sourness.

Take the tamarind off the heat, pour the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, leaving behind the husk and the seed. You want to add the husk to the remaining sauce and discard the seed (or you can keep the seeds in the sauce for an authenticity – some people enjoy sucking on the seed and being reminded that the sauce comes from real tamarind fruit). Now return the tamarind sauce to the saucepan.

In the saucepan, add the remainder of the ingredients and bring it to a medium boil to help thicken the sauce. Once the sauce is at the consistency you want, allow it to cool and store in sterilized jar or glass bottle in the refrigerator. It will last about a week in the refrigerator, or a few months in the freezer. Enjoy!

[caption id="attachment_1800" align="aligncenter" width="990"] Homemade sweet tamarind sauce.[/caption]