All About Tamarind

Long used to cook up a storm in the kitchen, this pod-like fruit has many other benefits in keeping your body, skin, and hair healthy.

- Poon Li-Wei

Mention tamarind and one’s mouth immediately waters at the very thought of its sweet and sourish tang. An edible pod-like fruit that sprouts from a medium growth shrub, it’s encased within a shell that resembles the edamame bean. If you’re looking to enhance the flavours of a savoury dish, consider adding the hard green pulp of its young fruit. On its own, it would be too sour. But for the better part of its culinary use, it’s the sweetened and more ripened brown flesh most seek out – with cultures all over the world incorporating it into a variety of dishes and drinks to whet the appetite. In fact, while we may commonly associate this ingredient with curry, it’s a component of the hugely popular Worchestershire sauce – which explains that tang! In many cases, you can even use it as a stand-in for lime or lemon juice when recipes call for them. But our favourite thing about it is how it makes quite the addictive yet healthy and low-calorie snack – just crack