What is Tamarind Chutney?
Tamarind chutney is a semi-thick spread or sauce made from the pulp of the tamarind pod. This chutney is made by blending tamarind, water and a variety of sweet and hot spices to create a dark red and brownish condiment. The flavor is sweet and tart with notes of various spices. It is used on breads and as a dipping sauce.
What does Tamarind Chutney Taste Like?
Sweet is one of the five main tastes. It has smooth and round notes in its flavor profile. Sweet is a naturally occurring flavor in many foods, including fruits, berries, winter squashes, sugarcane, and honey. The sweet taste in these foods is due to a higher sugar content. Sweetness is characteristic of desserts and is used as an accent in savory foods.
Spicy is a flavor that brings heat and fire to food by creating a burning sensation in the mouth or sinuses. Spicy flavors come from hot peppers, horseradish, and wasabi. Spicy adds a kick and sometimes complexity to a dish and releases endorphins, creating a mildly addictive quality.
Ingredients
Water is a substance and chemical compound made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is clear, fluid, flavorless and odorless. Water is a necessity in nearly every aspect of life, including cooking, baking and hydrating the human body. Water can be served as a cold beverage, or at any temperature comfortable to the mouth and skin.
Tamarind is a pod that grows on tamarind trees. The pod is large, brown and long, a lot like a bean pod. In fact the tamarind tree is a leguminous tree. Inside the pods are an edible pulp. This pulp is mashed into a paste and has a dark brown-red color. It is thick and sticky. The sour and sweet flavor of tamarind is intensely strong and often an acquired taste. It is used in sauces, soups, curries and many other dishes.
Apples have been around since nearly the beginning of human evolution. However, domesticated varieties are newer to the scene and much sweeter, as wild apples are extremely sour. The apple is a round fist-sized fruit with a smooth skin that is either green, or variations of red, and may have yellow tones. The white flesh has a crunch and is sweet and crispy. Apples are a common fruit in the USA and eaten raw and cooked in desserts, salads and savory dishes.
Botanically the chili pepper is a fruit, in culinary terms it is a vegetable. There are a number of varieties of red chili peppers. Some common ones used for spice powders and seasonings include the piri piri, cayenne, and chile de árbol, among others. Each pepper is red and has a thin skin with a thin flesh and seeds inside the middle of the pepper. The shape varies, but is often thin and tapered. The heat level varies also, depending on the type of pepper. Some are mildly hot, while other red chilies are scorching and fiery. The pepper can be used fresh in many dishes, as well as dried or powdered.
Paprika is a spice made made not from one type of pepper but from multiple varieties of sweet peppers and chili peppers. Common paprika is not spicy, but some paprika will be mildly spicy if hotter peppers are used. The pepper is dried and ground into a fine red power used to season savory dishes. The flavor is both sweet and pungent with a hint of bitterness that can emerge when it is cooked.
Cumin is a spice used in many cuisines around the world. The seed from which cumin is ground is a thin seed with a long body and tapered ends. Cumin is just a few millimeters in length and has a light brown or tan tone, which can look a bit grey. Ground cumin is light brown and has a flavor that is spicy, earthy and a little nutty. When pan heated, the flavor of cumin is both tempered and enhanced.
Ginger is a spice whose root is used in food around the world. The root is grown underground and has a hard body and thin, beige skin. The root has many rounded and long shoots and is often fat. The flesh of the ginger is golden colored with a flavor that is earthy, spicy and bright. Ground ginger is made from the dried ginger root and has a powdery texture that is an earthy golden color. The flavor is similar, but not as spicy and is often used in Western desserts.
Additives are added to food items in small quantities to improve the flavor, change the texture, enhance appearance, or preserve the item. Additives are both natural and artificial. Natural additives have been used for a long time, while many artificial ones were discovered in the 19th century. There are numerous artificial additives including soy lecithin, guar gum, ascorbic acid and sodium nitrite.
