Step 1

Peel the outer shells of the pods off, remove any of the veiny fibers surrounding the seeds and pulp and then soak the tamarind in hot water for about an hour.

Step 2

Then put the tamarind in a fine meshed strainer sitting in the soaking liquid, and mash the tamarind through the strainer until all that’s left in the strainer is the hard seeds.

Step 3

Combine the pulp with the liquid in the bowl to form a thin tamarind paste (if you’d like the paste to be thicker, use less water for soaking).