Step 1

Place the tamarind paste in a bowl.

Step 2

Heat one cup of water to a boil and pour it over the tamarind. Stir, then soak the tamarind for 10 minutes.

Step 3

After soaking, mash the tamarind well until it feels completely soft. Remove any hard fibres, seeds or pod fragments.

Step 4

Strain the tamarind water into a fresh bowl and squeeze out as much extract from the pulp as possible. Set tamarind water aside.

Step 5

Return the pulp to the first bowl. Heat ½ cup of water to a boil, pour over the pulp and allow to steep for another 10 minutes.

Step 6

Strain this second extract into the earlier one. Again, squeeze as much liquid from the pulp as possible.

Step 7

Discard the pulp. The tamarind water is now ready for use.