Cultivated all over the tropics, tamarind is a much-valued food ingredient in Asian cooking. It is actually the fruit pod produced by the tall, semi-evergreen tree grown primarily in India. The beans and pulp within the pod have virtually no smell, but it has an extremely sour taste.

Used as the equivalent to lemon juice in Indian cuisine, it adds a distinctly sour, yet fruity flavour to cooking. A flavour that lemon juice, often suggested as an alternative to tamarind, sadly cannot quite equal. The sticky pulp that surrounds the seeds of the tropical tree has a high tartaric acid content which accounts for its wide use as a souring agent.

An evergreen with light green, oval-shaped leaves, it has red-veined yellow flowers which ripen into dark brown pods. Tamarind is useful where a gentle sourness is needed and it enhances the flavour of fish and poultry dishes. This souring agent is used throughout India and South East Asia in curries, chutneys and lentil dishes.