Tamarind trees are indigenous to Africa, and are used both as a spice and as a souring agent. It comes as a pod, in blocks of seedy pulp, or as concentrate in little jars you can get from the 'world food' section of larger supermarkets. It's a surprisingly versatile ingredient, going well with aubergine, oily fish, or in rich meaty stews and stirfries. Personally I think it tastes like very tart lime juice with rather more depth, but it's also got several similarities to dates.
Ramblings about the magical tamarind aside, this recipe is another inspired by the wonderful Groundnut cookbook, and a nice way of doing more with pork than just serving it up as a chop. The aim is for all the flavours to condense into a rich, unctuous, barbecue style dish.
What's the A to V?
Although often pale, pork is classified as a red meat and so is a source of heme iron. It's also rich in vitamins B1, B3, B12 and zinc. Tamarind meanwhile, contains decent amounts of B1, potassium, non-heme iron and magnesium.
Ingredients (Serves 4):
4 pork shoulder chops, or pieces of pork loin
2 spring onions & 1 carrot (very finely sliced or grated)
For the marinade
400g blueberries
3 tbsps of tamarind (concentrate is probably easiest)
75g honey
2 tsps of garlic granules
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp of ground black pepper
1 tbsp of salt
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
Splash of water