Raw tamarind is called Hunasekai
in Kannada. Tamarind pods are brown in colour with a shell like covering.
Inside, the seeds are covered by pulp and strands of fibre. The pulp of the
young fruit is green and sour. Raw tamarind pulp is used to make Tamarind Tokku (Hunase thokku) and Hunase kai rasa
or extract. Hunase kai rasa is used
as base to prepare many types of pickles such as Makali beru/ Swallow root,
Mavina kai shunti/ Curcuma amada,
Bettada nalli kai/Indian gooseberry
and mixed vegetable pickle. The thokku
should be prepared when seeds are tender. Hunase
rasa can be prepared when the seeds
are hard (but not brown).
Extracting the juice and separating the outer covering,
seeds and fiber (Naru) is a tedious process
while preparing Hunise kai rasa. The
typical procedure followed is to crush tamarind in a pestle and mortar, taking
care not to crush the seeds .Then the juice is extracted adding boiled and
cooled water. My friend Rajalakshmi taught me a simplified procedure, which I
am going to share with you below.
HUNISEKAI RASA
Ingredients required:
Hunase kai
or Raw tamarind 500 grams
Pieces of Bettada
nalli kai/ Indian gooseberry, Makali
beru/ Swallow root, Mavina kai shunti
/ Curcuma amada
Byadagi chillies Sun dried 250 Grams or to taste
Mustard 2 table spoon full
Salt to taste
Asafoetida powder
Oil 4 table spoon
Turmeric powder 1 table spoon
Instructions
Wash raw tamarind 3 to 4 times with clean water and dry them
by spreading on a clean towel. Break each tamarind into 2 pieces by hand, do
not use knife. Remove the strings by pulling the same with your hands as much
as possible.
 |
| Tamarind pieces with fiber |
Place the cleaned tamarind in a pressure cooker and add
water such that it covers the tamarind. Cook for 5 minutes.
Allow the contents to cool. When you open the lid, you will see that the hard outer layer of tamarind has become loose and separated from its pulp.
 |
| COOKED TAMARIND |
Remove the hard shell by separating
them slowly without crushing.
 |
| SHELL IS SEPARATED |
Take out
the pulp and squeeze and remove the seeds from the pulp. If needed add some
more boiled and cooled water. Mix it
with the juice in the pressure cooker. Strain it to remove small bits of fibre
and outer shell pieces. Grind red chillies along with mustard seeds, asafoetida
and turmeric powder in to a smooth powder. To this powder add required amount
of tamarind extract and grind it to a smooth paste. You can also use boiled and
cooled salt water or vinegar for grinding. Add the chilli paste to the
remaining tamarind extract and mix well.
 |
| HUNASE KAI RASA |
Heat required amount of oil in a pan for tempering. When the oil is heated, add mustard seeds and asafoetida. Cool it and add to the Hunese kai rasa or tamarind juice.
Hunase kai rasa is ready!
It will be very tasty
if you mix the rasa with hot rice and Ghee or gingelly oil and eat.
You can add sliced green chillies, green pepper, and pieces
of gooseberry, Makali beru , mavina kai
shunti.
Mixed vegetable pickle can be prepared by adding pieces of
mixed vegetable to this juice.
