Caribbean browning (burnt-sugar seasoning)
Caribbean browning is a dark liquid of deeply caramelised sugar, used in small amounts for colour and a smoky, bitter-sweet flavour in stews and black cake.
Trinidad tamarind sauce
Tamarind chutney · Tamarind sauce for doubles and pholourie
A sweet, sour and spiced tamarind sauce from Trinidad, made from tamarind pulp with garlic, Scotch bonnet, culantro, cumin, anchar masala and brown sugar, served with doubles and pholourie.
Overview
Trinidad tamarind sauce is a sweet, sour and spiced condiment made from tamarind pulp. It is the sauce served with doubles and pholourie, two Trinidadian snacks, and it is also called a tamarind chutney. Tamarind supplies most of the sourness, and brown sugar and the spice mix give it its sweetness and depth. The sauce carries fresh heat from Scotch bonnet pepper and a green herbal note from chadon beni, the local name for culantro.
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Background
Doubles are street food made from two pieces of fried bara bread filled with curried chickpeas and topped with chutneys such as tamarind sauce. Pholourie is a snack of seasoned split pea flour batter, deep-fried into golden balls. The sauce is served with both.
The recipe's author presents his own childhood memory of the sauce, sold in small bags outside a school alongside other snacks. The source offers no dated history for the sauce, and its place in Trinidadian cookery rests on that account and on the snacks it accompanies.
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Method
The pulp is the foundation. Shells and seeds come out first, then the pulp is soaked in boiling water until it cools, squeezed, and strained so that the seeds and fibres stay behind. The source recommends fresh pulp in a box or tamarind blocks with the seeds, and advises against concentrate sold in a bottle or jar because it has added ingredients.
The pepper, garlic and culantro are blended and added to the strained tamarind liquid with the cumin, anchar masala, brown sugar and salt. A brief simmer of 10 to 15 minutes brings the sauce together. The source treats the simmer as the step that thickens the sauce, and says that a longer simmer thickens it further and extra water thins it.
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Balance and seasoning
The seasoning is adjusted at the end. The source asks the cook to taste and correct the salt and sugar after simmering, and to use fewer peppers or seedless ones for a milder sauce. Anchar masala is a spice mix whose contents vary, and a gluten-free result depends on the masala having no wheat-based filler.
The source's recipe lists 3 1/2 cups of water but mentions only 3 cups for soaking, and it does not say what the last half cup is for. The record keeps the figure as written and does not decide the point.
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Storage and use
The sauce keeps in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. It is served as a condiment with doubles, pholourie and other snacks.
A thinner dipping sauce and a thicker chutney are both called tamarind sauce in use. The thickness depends on how long it simmers and how much water is added, and the source leaves the choice to the cook.
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History
The author describes the sauce as a childhood snack sold in small bags outside a school, and places it with doubles and pholourie. It gives no dated history for the sauce.
Ingredients
Yield 4 servings · Scaling: the source gives one batch for 4 servings; the pulp, water and seasoning scale together, and the pepper count sets the heat.
Tamarind pulpShells and seeds removed.
454 g1 lb as recorded
Water3 cups boiling water for soaking the pulp, the rest for thinning.
828 mL3½ cup as recorded
The source does not say what the last half cup is for.Scotch bonnet pepperSeeds included; blended with the garlic and culantro.
2 peppers
GarlicBlended.
6 cloves
Chadon beni (culantro)Blended.
6 leaves
Ground roasted cumin (geera)Ground and roasted.
15 mL1 tbsp as recorded
Anchar masala
22 mL1½ tbsp as recorded
The source notes it can be gluten-free only if the masala has no wheat-based filler.Brown sugar
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
1.2 mL¼ tsp as recorded
Adjust to taste.Method
- Remove the shells and seeds from the tamarind. Soak the pulp in 3 cups of boiling water until cool, then squeeze it to release the pulp and strain out seeds and fibres.
- Once the water is cold, rub the pulp between the hands to separate it from the seeds, and discard the seeds and shell pieces.
- Blend the peppers, garlic and chadon beni until smooth.
- In a saucepan, combine the tamarind liquid, the blended mixture, cumin, anchar masala, brown sugar and salt. Bring to a gentle boil.
- Reduce to a simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Taste, adjust the salt or sugar, then remove from the heat.
- Let the sauce cool to the preferred consistency. Simmer longer to thicken, or add water to thin.
Conditions
Yield4 servings
Places
Trinidad and Tobago
Documented preparation · Country evidenceThe source places the sauce in Trinidad as the condiment for doubles and pholourie; it gives no locality.
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Sources
CaribbeanPot.comMethod · History · Inspiration
Trinidad Tamarind Sauce for Doubles & PholourieIngredients for 4 servings: 1 lb tamarind pulp, 3 1/2 cups water, 2 Scotch bonnet peppers, 6 garlic cloves, 6 leaves chadon beni, 1 tablespoon ground roasted cumin, 1 1/2 tablespoons anchar masala, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, salt to taste.
Method: soak the pulp in boiling water, squeeze and strain, combine with blended peppers, garlic and culantro and seasonings, bring to a gentle boil, simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Storage: refrigerate for up to 3 weeks.
Doubles are a Trinidadian street food of two bara filled with curried channa; pholourie is a deep-fried split pea flour batter ball.
Cited in: Overview; Background; Method; Balance and seasoning; Storage and use