How to Make Instant Pot Tamarind Paste

Tamarind paste or tamarind sauce is used to add a unique and delicious sweet and tangy flavor to Thai and Indian dishes.  Learn how to make easy homemade tamarind paste with this Instant Pot Tamarind Paste recipe.

An essential ingredient in authentic pad thai and massaman curry, tamarind paste (or sauce) is also used in many other Asian dishes including Indian recipes. In India it’s also called ‘imli’ and is used as an ingredient in condiments, sauces, lentil dishes and curries.   Tamarind has a mouth-puckering tart, sweet, fruity taste.

Many people buy prepared tamarind paste that’s sold in a jar at Indian or East Asian stores, and I’ve occasionally done that.  It works well and is really convenient.  Just open the jar and you’re all set.  But if you compare the store-bought tamarind paste with homemade, you’ll immediately notice the difference in taste.  Homemade tamarind sauce has a distinct fruity taste that the store-bought tamarind sauces and concentrates lack.

Tamarind paste is quite simple to make in the Instant Pot if you have 30 minutes to spare.  If you’ve been substituting lime juice for tamarind paste in your recipes, I think it’s definitely time for you to try the real thing.  If you don’t have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, you can easily adapt this recipe to the stove-top.  Just boil the tamarind and water, and let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes.

Tamarind is a pod-shaped fruit that grows on a tamarind tree.  The hard outer shell of the pod encloses a pulpy, tangy-tasting fruit with seeds.  It’s not convenient or easy to obtain the fresh fruit so I like to buy packets of seedless tamarind pulp that are sold in blocks. The seedless ones are easier to extract the pulp from, but the blocks with seeds work fine too.  You can find both types of tamarind block packets at South Asian/Indian, East Asian grocery stores, and online on amazon.com.

Once you cook the tamarind and water, you mash it with a fork or potato masher to extract the pulp.  You’ll get the first batch of tamarind paste after straining the pulp through a sieve. I like to run the remaining solid pulp through the sieve a second time by adding a bit more water to it and straining it again, which reduces waste and gets as much as possible from the tamarind pulp.

If you’re new to the Instant Pot and aren’t familiar with how to use it, please read the Instant Pot Manual / Beginner’s Quick Start Guide blog post first and then come back here to learn how to make Instant Pot Yogurt.

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Homemade Instant Pot Tamarind Paste Ingredients

Homemade Instant Pot Tamarind Paste Step-by-Step Instructions

• Separate the tamarind block into large pieces and place in the Instant Pot.
• Stir in 2 cups water.

• Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
• Press ‘Manual’ (or ‘Pressure Cook’) and ‘+’ or ‘-‘ until display reads ‘10’ (10 minutes).

• Instant Pot display will change to ‘On’.
• Once the Instant Pot is pressurized, the float valve will go up.
• The display will count down from 10 to 0; it will switch to ‘Keep Warm’ mode and display ‘L0:00’.

• Do a quick release: move the steam release handle to ‘Venting’. I like to place a folded towel over the steam release handle and move it to the venting position.
• When your Instant Pot is depressurized, the float valve will be in the down position.
• It’s now safe to open the Instant Pot. (Press ‘Cancel’ to turn off Instant Pot.)

• Using a potato masher, mash the tamarind pulp.

• Place a mesh strainer over a medium bowl.
• Working in batches, place tamarind pulp in the strainer and strain by pressing with the back of a spoon or with clean hands (once it’s cool enough to handle.)

• Set aside strained solid pulp.
• If desired, repeat the process by stirring in 1 cup of hot water to the strained solids, and strain it a second time.  This reduces waste.
• Discard strained solids.
• Place tamarind paste in a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator.  Or freeze in small batches.

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Instant Pot Tamarind Paste

Prep 15 mins

Cook 15 mins

Total 30 mins

Author Paint the Kitchen Red

Yield 2 cups

Tamarind paste or tamarind sauce is used to add a unique and delicious sweet and tangy flavor to Thai and Indian dishes.  Learn how to make easy homemade tamarind paste in the Instant Pot.

Ingredients

• 1 (14 oz.) block of tamarind pulp (preferably seedless)
• 2 cups water
• 1 additional cup water (optional)

Instructions

• Separate the tamarind block into large pieces and place in the Instant Pot.
• Stir in 2 cups water.
• Close Instant Pot Lid, and make sure steam release handle is in the ‘Sealing’ position.
• Cook on 'Manual' (or 'Pressure Cook') mode for 10 minutes.
• Do a quick release of pressure and open the Instant Pot.
• Using a potato masher, mash the tamarind pulp.
• Place a mesh strainer over a medium bowl.
• Working in batches, place tamarind pulp in the strainer and strain by pressing with the back of a spoon or with clean hands (once it's cool enough to handle.)
• Set aside strained solids.
• If desired, repeat the process by adding 1 cup of hot water to the strained solids and strain it a second time.
• Discard strained solids.
• Place tamarind paste in a clean glass jar and store in the refrigerator or freeze in batches.

Courses Condiment, Sauce, Dip

Cuisine Indian, Thai

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 Tbsp

Amount Per Serving
Calories 10
% Daily Value

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

I am not a certified nutritionist.  I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers.  If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons,  I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.

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