Asam Jawa (
Tamarind ) is the Tamarindus indica. Despite its
name, it was not originated from Jawa or India. It is a leguminous tree indigenous to the
tropical Africa. It reached South Asia
most likely prior to the Common Era. Today,
it is widely distributed throughout Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, Southern
China, Northern Australia and even
Central America.
In South East Asia,
it has became an important ingredient in Malay and Indian cuisine.
The acidic pulp of
ripe fruit is used in cooking various type of curry ( kari ), most fish dishes ( ikan
masak asam, ikan masam manis, ikan masam pedas ), etc. It is said that Asam Jawa is capable to
reduce the fishy smell of fish. The
pulps are easily found in hypermarkets, supermarkets or wet markets, usually sold
in packages with or without the seeds.
The sweet variety
is eaten fresh, or made into juice. Fresh Asam Jawa can be easily found in markets
and roadside stalls in Terengganu, Kelantan and Thailand.
As a child, we had
candied Asam Jawa as snack. The pulp was
coated in fine sugar and wrapped individually in transparent plastic sheets. It has been a while since I see the snack
being sold in stalls or grocery stores.
According to my
colleague of Indian descendent, as a child he learned to count with the aid of
the seeds of Asam Jawa ( In Tamil, it is called puli ).
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