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Agua de Tamarindo

Latin American · 15 min · Easy · 6 glasses

Agua de Tamarindo

Tamarind loosened in hot water and sweetened into a sour-brown cooler with a long, mouth-watering finish. Sharper and more savory than it looks.

~90 cal per serving — Calories are approximate, per serving — a guide only.

gluten-freenut-freesoy-freeoil-freegrain-free
Plan it:

Method

  1. 1

    Loosen the tamarind

    ⏱ 10 min

    Warm the water for the base in a pot, whisk in the tamarind paste and simmer gently for 10 minutes, breaking up any lumps against the side of the pot, until it has dissolved into a smooth dark liquid.

  2. 2

    Sweeten

    Stir in the sugar and a good pinch of salt off the heat. Tamarind is aggressively sour, so it takes more sugar than you would guess — keep tasting until it lands just short of sweet.

  3. 3

    Strain, dilute and chill

    Strain into a jug to catch the fibers, then stir in the cold water and the lime juice. Chill hard and serve over ice.

Notes

Block tamarind gives a better flavor than the jarred paste if you can get it — soak 3½ oz (100 g) in hot water, then work it through a sieve and use the pulp. Salt is doing real work here; without it the drink tastes flat and one-dimensionally sour.

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