Raw Tamarind

Living in South East Asia is brilliant. Fresh fruit (lots and mostly organic too) is readily available, like water and dirt cheap. Going Raw here is totally possible with out almost any effort.

Sometimes my ignorance or shall we say lack of exposure to various foods makes the trip to the market every time. In the market, I saw what looked to me like a little bag of possum poo. I asked the lady what it was and she had no idea what I was asking. So for 30 bhat I thought I would take the chance on about half a kilo and try them out.

Google needs a photo recognition tool for this sort of thing, because googling is difficult if you have no idea what the food is. I really couldn't recognise the flavour because the tamarind paste you buy to make thai curries etc is more bitter sweet than its natural counter part.

So as a personal trainer / food junkie does, once I discovered that it was tamarind, I goggled the nutritional properties.

Have a look:...

A little History...if your in to it

• Tamarindus indica is indigenous to Africa
• Called tamar hind or "Indian Date".
• In south east Asian countries, tamarind is used in many of dishes to add flavour, when the fruit is more mature it is suitable for jams and is often used in the popular western worcestershire sauce.
• Tamarind has many medicinal properties that aid in; stomach disorders, body pain jaundice, yellow fever and as blood tonic and skin cleanser.
• In Malaysia and the Philippines it is used in the treatment of malaria, scurvy and as a cure for coughing.

Check out Wiki for way more...

Tamarind (Nutritional Properties) for Raw Foodies

Rich in

• Vitamins - including thiamin, vitamin A, folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin-C that are essential for optimum health.
• Minerals - like copper, potassium, calcium, iron, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps control heart rate and blood pressure. Iron is essential for red blood cell production and as a co-factor for cytochrome oxidases enzymes.
• Fibre - Dietary fibers in the pulp bind to bile salts
• Phytochemicals - Tamarind fruit contains many volatile phytochemicals such as limonene, geraniol, safrole, cinnamic acid, methyl salicylate, pyrazine and alkyl­thiazoles. Together these compounds account for the medicinal properties of tamarind.
• Anti-Oxidants - While lemon contains citric acid, tamarind is rich in tartaric acid. Tartaric acid gives a sour taste to food but is also a very powerful antioxidant. (Anti-oxidant E-number is E334). It helps body protect from harmful free radicals.

Source

Though it is allot of effort to crack and peel back the shell and spit out 5-6 seeds per shell (feels like your spitting out your teeth) they are worth the effort and with all that effort you are less likely to smash em...

Enjoy

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