Tag: tamarind concentrate
Pad Thai with Seasoned Tofu
I made this dish after reviewing a restaurant Nine Thai in Chatham, NJ. It was a really good restaurant with a friendly staff and great food. I gave it a great review and decided to replicate their pad thai at home.
I have been eating pad thai for years now and love ordering it at restaurants. I have always thought this dish as extremely complicated and hard to make.
Since I had to replicate a dish, I decided to take this one on. After a bit of research, I realized the noodle dish is really not hard to make- it just has a lot of ingredients. Once you have them on hand- it doesn’t take that long. You can control the amount of fat and salt when you make popular take out dishes at home.
In this case, I made it super healthy with tofu, bean sprouts and garlic chives. I had most of the ingredients at home- like tamarind, fish sauce, tamari, etc. I decided not to add any meat but it will be delicious with chicken or shrimp.
If you love eating pad thai in a restaurant, definitely make this homemade version- it is delicious.
- 10 oz extra firm tofu, cut into thin strips about an inch long
- 2 teaspoons tamari
Place the tofu strips in a zip lock bag with the tamari and marinate for 2 to 3 hours.
- ½ pound rice noodles- soaked in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
Sauce
- 1 tablespoon tamarind concentrate
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons palm sugar
- 2 tablespoons tamari
- 1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic
Mix the tamarind, fish sauce, palm sugar and chili paste in a small bowl and keep aside,
- 3 tablespoons extra light olive oil
- 2 medium shallots, sliced thin
- 3 green onions, chopped (white parts only- save the green parts for the garnish)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup garlic chives, cut into 1 inch long segments (optional)
- 2 cups bean sprouts
- 2 eggs, beaten with 1 teaspoon salt
Garnish
- 1 cup chopped salted roasted peanuts
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 3 green onions, chopped (the green parts only)
- One lime cut into wedges
In a large frying pan or a wok like sauce pan heat the olive oil and add the marinated tofu. Saute on high heat for 2 to 3 minutes or till the tofu is golden brown. Add the shallots, white parts of the green onions and garlic. Saute on medium high heat for a minute. Add the garlic chives and sprouts and mix well. Move all the mixture to the side of the pan and make a well in the middle. Drop the eggs and scramble for 30 seconds and then mix with the rest of the mixture. Add the drained noodles and mix well. Saute for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the tamarind mixture and mix well. Add the peanuts, cilantro and green onions. Mix well and check for seasonings. Squeeze the lime and serve.
Shrimp Curry with Roasted Onions
This recipe is based on an Indian dish made with eggplant called baghare baingan. It is very popular in Indian restaurants and I have made it a few times in the past. Actually I was looking to cook shrimp and somehow thought of this flavorful dish. Although it is typically made with eggplants and is obviously vegetarian, I could envision myself making it with shrimp- so that is what I did.
I used jumbo shrimp and sauteed them briefly. I used the same pan and oil and cooked the onion, ginger and garlic mixture. I then came up with a spice mixture consisting of coriander, cumin and sesame seeds. The flavorful seeds bring a creamy taste and texture to the mix. Curry leaves, tamarind and fish broth finish this truly delicious curry- I loved all the flavors together, especially with the shrimp.
In fact I loved it so much- I am not sure I will make it with eggplants ever again!
Next time you don’t know what to do with shrimp- make this shrimp curry- you will love it!
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Tamarind Chicken with Green Beans
One of my favorite ingredients to have in my pantry is tamarind. I have the regular dried tamarind that I get from the Indian store but I also have the tamarind concentrate which is available at most grocery stores like Whole Foods. The concentrate is always in my fridge and I use for a lot of things including dressings, sauces, etc. It is easy to use and a little goes a long way. I love the earthy, tangy flavor it imparts to all the dishes- especially when it is paired with honey or sugar.
In this dish, I wanted to make a quick stir fry and wanted to use the tamarind concentrate to replicate a few Thai dishes I enjoy at Khun Thai– one of our favorite restaurants. I love the mixture of flavors in my mouth- sweet, sour, spicy and savory- my mouth waters as I write….
I marinated the chicken pieces and mixed up a quick sauce for the stir fry. I had green beans in my fridge and I thought it would be a great combination with the chicken and the tangy sauce. I made brown rice on the side and it was a perfectly balanced and delicious meal.
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Healthy Tuna Salad with Tamarind Vinaigrette
I love tuna salad, especially made with lots of mayonnaise- but then I saw how many calories one tablespoon has- can you guess? A whopping 90 calories!! I just couldn’t get myself to make tuna salad for myself after getting the calories and fat facts.
Since I have been eating the GG crackers, I have been making cold salads for lunch. I thoughts of tuna the other day and felt like eating my usual tuna salad but I knew I couldn’t do it with the usual suspects. So, I took out one of my favorite ingredients- Greek yogurt. I always have the non-fat version in my fridge and I decided to use that as the base. I added Dijon mustard, sweet pickled relish and jalapenos. I love the sweet, salty and spicy combination. I added lots of black pepper and some salt. The idea was to add lots of flavor so I don’t miss the mayo- and I didn’t.
The tuna was delicious, especially with the tamarind vinaigrette drizzled on top of it. I was happy to eat a really healthy yet satisfying lunch.
Next time you are in the mood for tuna salad, give mine a try.
- One (6 oz) tuna can- either packed in water or oil and liquid squeezed out
- ¼ cup non-fat Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Dash of hot sauce
- 2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon chopped pickled jalapenos- optional
- Salt
Add the tuna to a small bowl and add the yogurt, mustard, hot sauce, relish, jalapenos and salt. Mix well and check for seasonings. Keep aside. Enough for two servings.
Prepare to platter with a mix of greens, carrots, etc. Add half of the tuna salad on top and drizzle with tamarind vinaigrette.
Tamarind Vinaigrette
- 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
- ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Add the tamarind concentrate, mustard, honey, white wine vinegar and salt in a small bowl. Drizzle the olive oil while whisking the mixture until it is emulsified. Pour on to of the tuna and green salad. Serve with the GG crackers.
South Indian Style Chicken- Hyderabadi Chicken
This recipe is inspired from my favorite Indian cookbook- Prasad. I have been cooking from this book for over ten years. When I first bought it and looked through i, I was quite intimidated. The recipes are very complicated the instructions are not very clear.
Over the years I have learned to simplify the recipes and still capture the essence.
This dish is extremely flavorful and delicious. Chicken thighs are marinated in ginger, garlic and salt for a few hours. They are then sauteed with onions, ginger and garlic with lots of curry leaves. Curry leaves have a very distinctive flavor and if you are not able to find them- just eliminate out of the recipe. There is really no substitution.
The chicken was a big hit. I cooked it for a dinner party. Everyone loved it.
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Roasted Corn and Tomato Salad with Tamarind and Mango Vinaigrette
I love this salad simply because it is so colorful and beautiful to look at. I love how food gets me so excited- I guess that is why I do what I do and love every minute of it.
I made this salad for the book club meeting. Since I was making some chicken tikkas, I wanted to make a salad to balance the dishes out. I also wanted the salad to have Indian flavors. I thought of a corn salad my sister in law makes all the time. She uses regular corn and a tamarind chutney. The tamarind chutney is made out of lots of dried tamarind, sugar, salt, cumin and cayenne pepper. It is a bit laborious to make but I always have it in the fridge. It has so much sugar and salt that it lasts in the fridge for ever. It is great to have it on hand and serve it with tikkas and actually a lot of Indian street food is served with this chutney.
When I thought of posting this recipe- I wasn’t sure how people would make the chutney at home- I guess you can buy it at the Indian stores- but I prefer to make it at home. I thought of tamarind concentrate which is available at Whole Foods and other grocery stores. I made a vinaigrette with the tamarind concentrate, olive oil and this time I used some mango lemonade from Trader Joes. It gave the dressing a sweet, tangy, mango flavor which complemented the sour tamarind really well. It was very delicious.
I paired the vinaigrette with roasted corn (my favorite ingredient from Trader Joes), cherry tomatoes, green onions and lots of cilantro. I topped it with pita chips- they provide a great crunch and some substance to the salad.
It was a big hit- everyone enjoyed it. Next time you are looking for a party appetizer, make the roasted corn and tomato salad.
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Jungle Shrimp- A Malaysian/Thai Style Shrimp
I have recently started writing for the Patch– which is a online blog owned by AOL. Most towns around Maplewood have their own local patch.
I recently did a restaurant review for the Chatham patch and talked about a restaurant called Taste of Asia. We had a really nice meal and I decided to replicate a dish called jungle shrimp. It was delicious at the restaurant and I came home and did a lot of research to figure out the ingredients. It turned out it had a lot of Thai flavors. I went shopping to Whole Foods and bought some kaffir leaves, lemongrass and palm sugar. I made a sauce out of orange juice, tamarind and fish sauce etc.
I sauteed the shrimp with some sweet peppers and onions and added the sauce. The dish was delicious- not the same as what we had at the restaurant but very enjoyable.
I loved the complex flavors of the sauce with the tamarind and the palm sugar. I served the dish with some fried rice to make it a complete meal.
If you are able to get all the exotic ingredients- no problem. You can substitute the palm sugar with honey, tamarind with lime juice, kaffir limes with lime zest, etc. The idea is to get a similar flavor- it doesn’t have to be exact. I would highly recommend it!
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