Tamarind or tamarin. Spelling matters!

I love that if you search for info on what a tamarind is, the Wikipedia entry starts with "This article is about the tropical plant. For the South American monkey, see Tamarin". For the record, I was not looking for a monkey for culinary purposes. Although I did watch a great episode of the new drama Black Box, the other day where a guy tripping on magic mushrooms opens his fridge and has a hallucination that there is a monkey in there. There are no monkeys in my fridge, and there are never likely to be :-) I was actually seeking enlightenment, realizing that I have used tamarind paste a few times, but have no idea what a tamarind actually is. Ignorance makes me uncomfortable. So, it turns out that the tamarind is a pod-like tree fruit native to Africa but grown widely there, in Asia, Oceania and South America, and that it is used most often in South Asian and Mexican cuisine. The taste is described as 'sweet and sour'. So there you have it, ignorance be gone. Needless to say, Wikipedia being what it is, there is a lot more details to savor there. However, it contains words like indehiscent, acidulous and sepals, so I kind of glossed over that. Knowledge is golden, but there is a limit.

Why was a prompted to make this little excursion into Wikipedia, you ask? Well, because the other night we enjoyed a dish where one of the main flavorings was tamarind paste. And a tasty dish it turned out to be. It isn't your average chicken dish for sure, and the flavor of the tamarind is an unusual one, but all five of the Farrars ate a sizeable portion, so it is one we seem to be willingly incorporating into our repertoire.

The recipe comes from Sara Lewis's Slowcooker Easy, which is in itself a reason to give it a try, since you know how much I love my slowcooker, and the word 'easy' is also a personal favorite. So stay clear of monkeys, cook up some rice and ladle a dollop of this on top, and dinner is sorted.

Tamarind Chilli Chicken
Serves 6-8

6 large skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes
2 TBSP canola/sunflower oil
2 onions, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 red chiles, seeded and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 TBSP tamarind paste
2 TBSP dark brown sugar
2 tsp turmeric
4 TBSP all purpose (plain) flour
900ml chicken stock
salt and pepper
cilantro leaves (coriander leaves) to garnish
rice to serve

1. Heat oil in a large skillet and sauté the chicken until beginning to brown. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware.
2. Add onion to the same pan and fry until lightly browned. Stir in red bell pepper, chiles and garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Mix in tamarind paste, sugar and turmeric and cook stirring for a further minute. Mix in the flour, and then gradually add the stock. Season to taste and bring to a boil.
3. Pour sauce into slow cooker and mix together with chicken. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours, or High for 5-6 hours. Serve over rice, garnished with chopped cilantro.