blue artichoke

I've been curious to try out this recipe for a while, but had been unable to find tamarind puree. Tamarind is a tropical tree native to east Africa but prolific throughout Asia, Australia, Latin America and the Caribbean. It produces a seed pod full of fruit pulp and hard seeds; it is the pulp that is used in cooking, and as a spice ingredient in Worcestershire sauce and Jamaican Pickapeppa sauce. It is most often used in Indian cooking, and can be found in Indian grocery stores. Or, in my case, the local international foods grocery store.

Dried tamarind

I first tasted tamarind in the form of a powdered juice packet, bought in Mexico along with other "exotic" fruit juice flavors such as guava, hibiscus, coconut, mango and peach. All the juice flavors tasted similar, though, rather like watermelon (except the coconut, which tasted like cinnamon milk), so I really had no idea what tamarind tasted like going in to this recipe. As it turns out, it tastes sweet-tart, and is difficult to describe. Here's the recipe:

Picadillo Con Carne de Res (Potato-and-Beef Hash)

2 pounds small red potatoes, cubed
1/2 pound ground round
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Tamarind Purée
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Tangy Tamarind Sauce

Place the potato cubes in a Dutch oven; add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Cook for 8 minutes or until tender. Drain and set potato cubes aside.

Cook meat, onion, bell pepper, and garlic in pan over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in potato cubes, Tamarind Purée, chopped cilantro, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Serve with Tangy Tamarind Sauce.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

CALORIES 230 (27% from fat); FAT 6.9g (sat 2.7g,mono 2.9g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 11.3g; CHOLESTEROL 26mg; CALCIUM 44mg; SODIUM 236mg; FIBER 4g; IRON 3.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 31.8g

Cooking Light, APRIL 1995

Tamarind Purée

1 (8-ounce) package wet tamarind pulp
2 cups hot water

Combine tamarind and hot water. Let stand 1 hour; then using your fingers or a fork, break tamarind into small pieces while it is still in the water. Let tamarind soak an additional 3 hours.
Press tamarind mixture through a sieve, reserving liquid; discard seeds and fibers.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Cooking Light, APRIL 1995

Tangy Tamarind Sauce
Serve this sauce with Gallo Pinto (rice & beans), grilled meats, chicken, or fish, or use it as a marinade.

1/2 cup Tamarind Purée
6 tablespoons water
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large jalapeño pepper, halved and seeded
1 garlic clove

Combine all ingredients in a blender, and process until smooth.

Yield: 1 cup (serving size: 1 tablespoon)

CALORIES 5 (0.0% from fat); FAT 0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g); PROTEIN 0.1g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 3mg; SODIUM 74mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 0.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 1.1g

Cooking Light, APRIL 1995

The meal was good, but rather potato-heavy. I used slightly less than 2# potatoes, in a mix of red, yellow and purple. I halved or quartered them, but should have cubed them smaller to mix in better. I also used a whole pound of extra-lean ground beef because 1/2# seemed rather paltry with all those potatoes. It was better with the Tangy Tamarind Sauce. I probably won't make this recipe again. It was good, and interesting, and a nice introduction to tamarind, but I just wasn't wild about it. I do have 1/2# of tamarind puree left over, so I'll try to find a good use for that soon.

By the way, did you notice the tamarind picture? That's the very first picture I've put on my blog, because I've been too lazy to learn how. It's much easier than I anticipated. Look forward to seeing more.
30 New Things #11: Learned to post pictures on my blog.