I opted for cold-brewing dried tamarind. I rinsed the pods in water and put them in a jar. Then I topped up with sugar and water and refrigerated overnight.
I gave it a few shakes in the course of its rest, to encourage the sugar dissolve and extract some of the earthy flavour of the tamarind.
The next morning, the liquid had turned a nice brown and had thickened a bit.
I cooked the mixture, two ways. One batch was plain, with additional sugar – tasting to sweeten.
The end result was a brown liquid – sweet and tart, sour – the essence of tamarind in a bottle.
Batch two was cooked with dried ginger and sugar.
Both syrups were interesting in cocktails and mocktails. Coming up.
