Author Notes
Tamarind is by far one of my favourite ingredients of Pakistani cooking, and this is one of my most favorite recipes to make from it, because is it a dip, sauce, and marinade all in one. Try using it an a marinade for barbecue drumsticks, a dip for spicy pakora, a dip for fries, even a refreshing drink when mixed with water. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. —Sumayya Usmani
Ingredients
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10
dates, pitted
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2 tablespoons
jaggery or muscovado sugar
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1/2 teaspoon
red chile or cayenne powder
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1 teaspoon
salt
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1 teaspoon
dry-roasted cumin
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1 teaspoon
dry-roasted and ground coriander seed
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2 tablespoons
tamarind paste
Directions
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Boil dates in 1/2 cup of water until they're soft, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool, then add it into a blender with the sugar, chile, salt, cumin, coriander, and tamarind paste. Blend into a paste.
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Store in a ceramic or glass container (do not use any metal to store this). Keeps for 5 days in a refrigerator.
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Sumayya is a food writer and cookery teacher who grew up in Pakistan, but has now found home in Glasgow. Sumayya is passionate about sharing the flavours of her homeland with a view to highlight Pakistani cuisine as a distinct one. The author or two cookbooks: Summers Under The Tamarind Tree (Frances Lincoln) and Mountain Berries and Desert Spice (Frances Lincoln, out April 2017), her writing reminisces about food and memories growing up in Pakistan. She writes for many publications, appears on television, and co-presents BBC Kitchen Cafe weekly, on BBC Radio Scotland.
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