Tamarind

Marinating chicken wings in a base of tamarind purée, fish sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, and cumin gives optimal flavor and just-enough char.

While it is not uncommon to find ginger blended into limeades, lemonades, and fresh sugarcane juice in India, it also pairs nicely with tamarind. Serve cold and give it a good stir before drinking.    This recipe is made with tamarind pulp, which contains large seeds that you will need to remove. Avoid the temptation to use concentrates. They’re more convenient because they don’t have seeds, but they don’t taste nearly as fresh.

Frying the paneer in a little oil before stirring it through the masala not only makes it crispy—it also adds loads of flavor.

This recipe is a sweet, sour, and spicy take on the classic centerpiece ham, and the leftovers will taste awesome in a mini potato roll.

Tamarind gives this hearty stew a pleasant sweet-sour pucker.

Tamarind juice concentrate helps gives this riff on the popular Thai stir-fry its tangy flavor.

This is a winning-contestant recipe from Season Four of Fox's MasterChef.

Long before I discovered my love of sashimi, I fell in love with the viscous, sweet taste of teriyaki. With anywhere from 300 to 700mg of sodium per tablespoon, however, teriyaki chicken from the local takeout is now out of the question. So, to meet my cravings, I let go of the original dish and focused on finding a substitute with a similar color, thick coating, and unique flavor. The low-sodium answer lay in tamarind paste—a sweet and tart concentrate made from tamarind seed pods. It is popular in Indian, Middle Eastern, and East Asian cuisines, and can even be found in Worcestershire sauce. Its acidic properties help tenderize meat, and in Ayurvedic medicine it is said to have heart-protecting properties. Or in Western medicine speak, it may help lower bad cholesterol. While it is no teriyaki, this tamarind sauce sure makes a convincing look-alike. The savory sweetness of the tamarind will delight your palate. If you have any leftover herbs in your kitchen, like mint, cilantro, or even some green onion, dice and sprinkle them over the chicken at the end for some extra color and cool flavor. And to make a traditional bento presentation, serve with a slice of orange and crisp lettuce salad.

This tart and spicy condiment is always served with a Sadhya feast. It is especially nice mixed with plain rice and yogurt as a palate cleanser. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

This aromatic mixture of split peas and vegetables is a staple in the South Indian diet. It always accompanies favorite snacks such as dosas (lentil crêpes) and idlis (lentil dumplings). A traditional Sadhya feast wouldn't be complete without this flavorful source of protein. Asafetida (a garlicky resin from the sap of a fennel-like plant; it's often used in lentil dishes) and fenugreek provide its pleasantly pungent aroma. This recipe is part of our menu for Sadhya, a South Indian feast.

There’s no beating fresh tamarind pods (as opposed to the pulp) for making the tamarind water for this recipe. Fresh tamarind should look a little moist (and be sure to buy unsweetened tamarind—sometimes it is sold coated with sugar to be eaten like candy). Salted plums can be found in Mexican and Asian markets. Mexican chile-lime powder will be in the candy aisle of the Mexican market. Note that this is not chile powder or American chili powder. It’s meant to be eaten on its own or sprinkled on fresh fruit. If you can’t find the plums or the powder, just omit them both and mix some sugar and salt together for the rim. For the teetotalers in the house, including babies and moms-to-be, tamarind water is also delicious on its own.

This fragrant, sweet-smelling Malaysian version of braised chicken is complex and delicious. The vaguely red color (it’s actually brown) comes from the chiles and tamarind. But if you don’t have tamarind, or you want a truly red sauce, substitute tomato paste for the tamarind paste; it’s a nice change of pace and actually makes the dish more attractive. Serve this with Nasi Lemak (page 515) or another rice dish.

A wonderful technique and combination of flavors that works so well with swordfish that I would be reluctant to substitute (Spanish mackerel, usually quite difficult to find, would be a good alternative). If you’re unfamiliar with lemongrass, trim its ends, then slit and peel its tough outer layer to expose the tender core; you usually get about 1 tablespoon from each stalk. See page 500 for information on Thai fish sauce (nam pla). Sticky Rice (page 508) is the thing here, along with a lightly dressed salad or very simple vegetable dish.

Unlike most braised meat dishes, this one ends up dry. The sauce is reduced slowly with the meat, and the result is something like fresh beef jerky. Be sure to vary the amount of chile according to your taste; I tend to be quite conservative when using chiles, but this dish is traditionally quite hot. Serve with white rice and a moist vegetable dish, like Spinach with Coconut Milk (page 487).

It took me a long time to figure out what was in this mysteriously flavored concoction, and even then I had to ask my host (who was from Kashmir, where this is common) what was going on here. The apples and eggplant complement each other perfectly, to the point where each loses a bit of its identity and gains something unusual. Serve this as a side dish any time you like, not just with Indian food.

Tamarind is a large seed pod grown and used in the cuisine of almost every equatorial country. Its pulp is processed into a dark brown paste, which is used as you might tomato paste, concentrated stock, or, for that matter, ketchup—as a simple flavor enhancer that completely changes the nature of the sauce into which it is stirred. You can make your own paste (page 585) or buy the paste now sold in bottles at many Asian stores. (There is also a kind of instant tamarind powder, which is not very good.) The bottled paste is concentrated to increase its strength, so if you use homemade tamarind paste, double the quantity (or add to taste). As for this recipe, you can use the same process to make almost anything in a tamarind sauce, but shrimp, because it requires minimal cooking time, is by far the easiest. I like to brown the shrimp first for a little more flavor, but you could actually start this recipe with the second step and add the shrimp after the onion. The dish is best when quite sour and not—as happens at too many restaurants—a sticky combination of sweet and sour.

Like coconut milk, this is nearly universal, seen from Mexico to Thailand to India. For information about tamarind, see the sidebar on page 587.

Though you don’t see Pad Thai all that much in Thailand (I was told there that it was “a Chinese dish” and therefore inauthentic), it has become a standard at American Thai restaurants—and for good reason. The combination of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy in a variety of textures is irresistible. There’s nothing difficult about making Pad Thai at home. Just make sure you’ve portioned out all the ingredients before you start cooking and, especially if you’re entertaining, take care of the first two steps before your guests arrive. Information on Asian fish sauces like nam pla is on page 500.

Most satays are thin slices of meat threaded through a bamboo skewer and grilled; they are almost inevitably dry. But this Malaysian version is made like kebabs, with bigger chunks of meat, which remain juicy and tender. Since they can be assembled ahead of time, they make a convenient starter, especially if you’re going to be grilling anyway. More on tamarind on page 587 and on nam pla on page 500.

Tamarind, a tropical fruit native to Asia, looks sort of like a brown fava bean with a hard tan shell that surrounds a sticky, meaty brown flesh. The fruit is often mixed with chile, and I found more than three dozen different candies made from it. Tamarind sorbet has a seductive tartness that comes through in this smooth nieve.

This is a very fragrant fruit punch enjoyed in the posadas and at end-of-year reunions all over Mexico. It is cooked in large batches and the aroma warms you from the moment it reaches your nose. Adults enjoy the punch with a bit of booze and call it piquete. I particularly like the ones made with tamarind because of the nice tartness that balances the sweetness of the piloncillo. Hibiscus flowers can be used if you want a nice burgundy color. Feel free to replace the fruits that you can’t find or don’t like for those of your own choosing.

With modern refrigeration, there is no need to make fresh tamarind liquid each time you need it. Just as some cooks freeze cubes of stock for when they need only a small amount, I keep a stash of frozen cubes of tamarind liquid on hand. They cut down on prep time and can be used whenever a dish needs some tartness. For information on buying tamarind pulp, see page 333.