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How to Use Tamarind Concentrate Instead of Tamarind Pulp

Asked Jul 13, 2020 by Adam N.

Good Evening,

I have a few questions regarding the tamarind dipping sauce. I just prepared the sauce and I think I did not get the right consistency it seemed quite liquidy. Is there anything in particular I should be doing to achieve the proper consistency? I utilized the lemon grass paste that milk street is selling (Angkor) which leads me to another question are 4TBs of paste called for? Also I utilized tamarind concentrate, could you advise on how many tsp of tamarind concentrate should be used? Thank you for all your assistance!

Adam

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COMMENTS

  • Adam N.

    July 14, 2020

    Update 1:

    After some thought I think I may have went wrong also as I used the fine strainer which the recipe calls for. But since I used the the lemongrass paste and tamarind concentrate I probably should have not done that as that is resulting in a to thin consistency.

    Thanks,

    Adam

  • Judith R.

    May 15, 2023

    I am trying a recipe from Milk Street magazine that calls for tamarind pulp but I have tamarind concentrate. Is there a way to substitute the concentrate for the pulp?

    • Lynn ClarkMilk Street Staff

      May 16, 2023

      Hi Judith -

      True tamarind concentrate is thicker, less fruity and has a more “cooked” and acidic flavor than tamarind pulp. It’s got the texture of hair pomade and is almost black in color (this is not to be confused with tamarind paste, which is usually more amber-colored, smooth and the texture of thick ketchup). I’d probably recommend using about half as much concentrate as pulp called for in a recipe. Since we haven’t tested using concentrate in this recipe, though, I unfortunately can’t give specific concentrate and water measurements. You will likely have to test out how much paste and water to use in the recipe to achieve the same results. For concentrate, you can skip the simmering step and you shouldn’t have much in the way of solids other than maybe some fibers from the ginger, so I don’t know how critical that step will be either. Good luck and let us know how it works out!

      Best,

      The Milk Street Cooking Team