Recipe(tried): Some Tamarind recs for you chas....

Hi There Chas,
Here is a chutney recipe for you using Tamarind..TAMARIND CHUTNEY
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3 tablespoons dried tamarind pulp
l cup hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black or brown sugar
l teaspoon ground cumin
half teaspoon ground fennel
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh ginger
lemon juice to taste
pinch chili powder, optional

Put tamarind pulp in a bowl with hot water and allow to soak until water is cool. Knead and squeeze pulp away from the seeds. until it is dissolved in the water, then strain through a fine nylon sieve, pushing all the pulp through. If necessary, add a little more water to assist in getting all the pulp from the seeds. Add salt, sugar and other ingredients to the tamarind and stir to mix well. Taste and add more salt if necessary, lemon juice to sharpen the flavor and if liked, a small pinch of chili powder. Very good with all sorts of barbecued food especilly chicken.

And here is some thing quite exotic and great if you,ve access to crabs....

Crab with Tamarind Sauce
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4 whole medium crabs
Peanut oil for deep-frying
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
1/4 cup rice wine
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped baby leeks or
spring onions (white part only),cut in 1-inch pieces
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon crushed white pepper

Clean the crabs, take off the tops, rinse thoroughly, cut in half and break the claws. Heat peanut oil in wok until very hot, deep-fry crabs for 30 seconds, or until color changes. Set on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Dissolve tamarind pulp in rice wine. In a large pan or wok, saut garlic in vegetable oil until soft, add crab and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes on a high heat. Add tamarind mixture, fish sauce and pepper. Reduce for another 2 minutes, then add baby leeks. Remove from heat. Place crabs on a platter and pour tamarind sauce over. Serve with steamed rice.

Helpful hints: Although this dish is traditionally prepared in a wok, the use of a deep-flyer might make the cooking easier. You can also substitute freshly ground black pepper, although white pepper is often the preferred ingredient of Vietnamese cooks.

Oh and a recipe for Tamarind water which you might find useful to add to currys or veggie dishes,also a good splash in a fruity sauce *lIfts* it!Tamarind Water
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4-5 strips of tamarind deseeded.
1 cup water Warm water and soak tamarind in it for 1 hour.
Mash well with hand. Strain out juice.
The tamarind water is used in recipes where one does not put the tamarind directly. The tamarind taste comes after adding the tamarind water in the recipes. Hope you find these recipes useful
Kind regards form a *chilly* South Africa
Julie