#28 best seller · Pantry Staples · Aara

Tamarind Slab (Imli)

The sour backbone of sambar, chutney and pani puri water, sold in one honest block.

A block of tamarind slab looks unglamorous — dark, sticky, wrapped tight — but it's the truest form of the sourness that runs through South Indian sambar, rasam, North Indian chutneys, and pretty much every chaat water worth drinking.

It takes a few extra minutes compared to bottled tamarind concentrate, but the flavor is rounder and less one-note sour, which is why serious cooks keep both a slab and a concentrate bottle on hand for different jobs.

How to extract tamarind pulp

Tear off a golf-ball-sized piece, soak in hot water for 15-20 minutes until soft, then mash and strain through a sieve, pressing to extract the pulp and discarding seeds and fiber.

The resulting pulp is thicker and more complex-tasting than most bottled concentrates, which are often diluted for convenience.

What to use it for

Sambar and rasam both rely on tamarind extract for their base sourness — this is non-negotiable in South Indian cooking.

Meethi chutney (tamarind-date chutney) for chaat and samosas starts here, along with pani puri water and many North Indian curries that want a sour edge without vinegar.

Slab vs concentrate — when to use which

Slab gives more depth and is worth the extra ten minutes for a big pot of sambar or a batch of chutney meant to be stored.

Concentrate is the better choice for a quick weeknight dal or when you need a tablespoon and don't want to deal with straining.

Ravi's quick tips

•Use hot, not boiling, water to soak — boiling can make the pulp bitter.
•Store the unused portion of the slab tightly wrapped in the fridge; it keeps for months.
•Freeze extracted pulp in ice cube trays for quick single-use portions later.
•A tamarind slab block goes much further than it looks — a small piece flavors a large pot of sambar.