Tamarind balls

Ingredients

The paste

• 400 gtamarind pods, or 300 g wet seedless tamarind pulp
• 300 ggranulated sugar, plus 150 g more for rolling
• 1 tspfine sea salt
• ½ tspcayenne or 1 minced Scotch bonnet, for the hot version
• ¼ tspfreshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tbspdemerara sugar, optional

Directions

1. If starting from pods, crack the brittle shells and peel them away, then pull off the fibrous strings running along the fruit; leaving them in gives a stringy, unpleasant ball.
2. Put the pulp in a bowl and work it with your fingers for 5 minutes to loosen the flesh from the seeds, adding no more than 2 tbsp warm water. Too much water and the mixture will never hold a shape.
3. Pick out every seed. They are hard and slippery and are the usual reason a homemade batch is unpleasant to eat.
4. Add the 300 g sugar, the salt, the cayenne and the nutmeg and knead the mixture in the bowl for 5–8 minutes until it is uniform, dark and stiff enough to hold a fingerprint.
5. Taste and correct. Antiguan tamarind balls are aggressively sour and salty first, sweet second; if it tastes like a sweet, add more salt and tamarind.
6. Let the mixture stand 20 minutes so the sugar draws out moisture and the paste firms up.
7. With wet or lightly oiled hands, roll walnut-sized balls, about 25 g each, pressing firmly so they do not fall apart.
8. Roll each ball in the extra granulated sugar to coat completely, then set on a tray for at least 1 hour to firm. Store in an airtight jar with sugar between the layers; they keep a month.

Technique

• The salt is not optional and not a garnish. The Caribbean tamarind ball is a sour, salty, hot sweet, and Western recipes that reduce the salt miss the point entirely.
• Wet market tamarind varies enormously in sourness and water content; add the sugar in two stages and taste rather than following the quantity blindly.
• Sticky hands are normal. A bowl of cold water beside you, and re-wetting your palms every few balls, is the working method.

Substitutions

• No fresh pods: buy seedless tamarind pulp in a block from a Caribbean or South Asian grocer and use 300 g of it, softened with a little warm water.
• Tamarind concentrate is too thin to roll; if that is all you have, stiffen 150 ml of it with 200 g icing sugar before adding the granulated sugar.

Variations

• The plain sweet-sour version, no chilli, made for children.
• A pepper-hot version rolled with minced Scotch bonnet, sold at rum shops.
• Tamarind balls rolled in brown sugar rather than white, for a fudgier crust.

History

Made when the tamarind pods drop in the Antiguan dry season and sold at shops and school gates.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tamarind balls?

Tamarind balls is a snack from Antigua and Barbuda: sour tamarind pulp rolled with sugar and salt into sticky balls. Made when the tamarind pods drop in the Antiguan dry season and sold at shops and school gates.

How long does Tamarind balls take to make?

Tamarind balls takes 30 min of preparation and none, plus 1 hr firming of cooking. The recipe makes about 24 balls. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tamarind balls?

Yes, within limits. No fresh pods: buy seedless tamarind pulp in a block from a Caribbean or South Asian grocer and use 300 g of it, softened with a little warm water. Tamarind concentrate is too thin to roll; if that is all you have, stiffen 150 ml of it with 200 g icing sugar before adding the granulated sugar.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tamarind balls?

Put the pulp in a bowl and work it with your fingers for 5 minutes to loosen the flesh from the seeds, adding no more than 2 tbsp warm water. Too much water and the mixture will never hold a shape.