The Process

We start the preparation for this delicious paste the night before by soaking tamarind, so that we can squeeze out the flavour in the morning. Chillies are also soaked overnight to remove any impurities and to encourage a smooth blend for this mild paste.

When we arrive back in the kitchen the next morning we’re greeted by our delivery of fresh ingredients from the markets including fresh Australian brown onions, tomatoes ginger, garlic and chillies to name a few.

Once the ingredients are prepared, we put a large pan to the stove and add mustard oil, heating it until it’s smoking hot. We then add handfuls of curry leaves, mustard seeds and onions with sea salt. The onions caramelise quickly in the heat of the pungent mustard oil and the smell takes over the kitchen!

We add the rest of the fresh ingredients, including ginger and garlic to this delightfully pungent pan, along with spices and chillies. Latasha then adds her secret mix of ground spices. Once the ingredients combine completely, we then sieve Indian tamarind into the pan and add the fresh puree of Australian grown tomatoes and coconut cream.

A beautiful exchange that happens over a couple of hours, producing a thick tangy dark orange sauce that solidifies into a paste once its sets and cools in the bottled jars.

Heat: Hot

Making it milder: This can be made even milder by adding more fresh crushed onions, followed by chopped tomatoes at the start of the dish. Tamarind juice, lemon juice, coconut cream, coconut milk and coconut powder all make this mild too.

Making it hotter: It can be made much hotter by adding fresh red or green chillies or dry red chillies in the oil at the start if the dish.