#REPLACEMENT FOR TAMARIND PASTE FULL#

The sour or tangy palate of tamarind adds a distinct flavor to different dishes. The most successful is pomegranate molasses.Are you looking for a tamarind paste substitute? We share a list of the best substitutes for tamarind paste below. Its sweet and sour notes are hard to replicate as it is so unique.īut there are a few ingredient combinations and single ingredients that strike a similar balance to tamarind paste.

#REPLACEMENT FOR TAMARIND PASTE FULL#

To conclude, tamarind paste is bursting full of flavour.

Mango Chutney – Already a key Indian and Middle Eastern staple, mango chutney will be more bitter than sour but has enough sweetness and citrus notes to make it worth a try.

Though you should be wary of any whole seeds or peels.

Marmalade – Made using whole citrus fruits and sugar, marmalade will have a mild sweet and sour combination.

But here are some other, simple ingredients that will require less work from you: The above substitutes will create strong sweet and sour combinations which is why they are the preferred substitute choices.

Rice vinegar is completely different to other kinds of vinegar which have harsh, overly sour flavours that even extra brown sugar won’t be able to balance out. If you do not have rice vinegar to hand then use a different substitute instead of swapping the vinegar out with another variety. But when used in a marinade, rice vinegar and brown sugar will work fine together. The combination will not create a thick paste, nor will it hit all the right flavours of tamarind paste perfectly. Still, you will need the added brown sugar to make the rice vinegar sweet enough to match the flavours of tamarind paste and to counteract the vinegar’s natural sourness.

However, this will even out spicy dishes. Rice vinegar is made from fermented rice so will be sweeter than most other substitutes. Working similarly to lime juice and brown sugar, mixing rice vinegar and brown sugar will produce a combination of sweet and sour. You should reduce the amount of brown sugar you add to the juice though as bottled lime juice does tend to be sweet already. However, in this case, bottled lime juice will work fine. The fresh lime juice will always be the better ingredient when it comes to savoury foods. Lime also has a clear citrus flavour that is also evident in tamarind paste.īrown sugar itself creates a significantly richer, more developed dish than white sugar does due to being made from sugar and molasses. Lime juice is naturally tart and bitter, but by adding brown sugar to the mix, you will be able to balance out its sweetness. Perhaps the easiest and most obtainable substitute for tamarind paste available, lime juice and brown sugar can be combined to create an effective sweet and sour taste. It may not create a complex dish, but you will hit the important flavours of tamarind paste. You will get sourness from the lemon and sweetness from the tomato paste. If you do not have Worcestershire sauce to hand and do not have the listed ingredients to make your own, you can make a very basic version using lemon juice, ample tomato paste and water. It will be acidic, sweet, sour, and tart.

These are all easily accessible ingredients and will create a flavour almost indistinguishable from tamarind paste. To make Worcestershire sauce taste exactly like tamarind, all you need to do is combine Worcestershire sauce, water, lemon juice (or vinegar), brown sugar and a little bit of tomato paste. It will be far too mild of a flavour despite having a balanced sweet and sour profile. 2) Worcestershire SauceĪs far as flavour goes, Worcestershire sauce is the closest you can get to tamarind paste while still on a budget.īy itself, Worcestershire sauce will not resemble tamarind paste. It will not be anywhere near the right consistency but will hit all the essential flavours of tamarind paste. If you want a quick fix solution, buy some molasses, and mix in some pomegranate juice. Pomegranate molasses is easy enough to make at home so long as you have a few hours to spare so that you can make sure the pomegranate juice doesn’t burn while reducing. Still, you should only use half as much pomegranate molasses compared to tamarind paste so that its tart sweetness doesn’t overwhelm your dish. Just like regular molasses, it has a heavy tartness but is balanced out by the natural sweetness of the pomegranate flavouring. In most cases, slightly runnier molasses will still work fine – especially in marinades and curries. If a recipe specifically uses tamarind paste for its thick consistency, then you will need to use corn starch or flour to make the pomegranate molasses fit the needs of the recipe.

Though it is not thick enough to be used as a paste. When pomegranate juice is cooked down, it is reduced to a thick, darkly coloured syrup.

Replacement for tamarind paste