Types and uses of Tamarind

[raweater]

I tried my first recipe with Tamarind, a Banana-Tamarind dipping sauce for samosas which was great.

I went today to buy more and this stuff sure is sold in many different formats, what what I can remember, they had:
-Whole Tamarind pods in a box
-Wet seedless tamarind
-Dry tamarind
-Seeded tamarind
-Tamarind concentrare/Instant tamcon (got some, is it raw? How do you open the plastic jar? It seems sealed shut)
-Tamarind Candy (got some, it's not bad)

One question I have is I wasn't sure how much water to use to dissolve the tamarind pulp, what's the ratio of water to tamarind? Neither the packaging or recipe specified this.

Another question is what can you do with the whole pods they sell? I almost bought a box but didn't think I'd know what to do with them, so if I get answers I'll buy it next time.

Thanks

[kyrie]

Hi,

If the pods inside are ripe, break open the shell, take the insides out, make sure to get rid of all the shell bits, and using a large strainer and metal spoon, and a container to catch liquid, balance the strainer over the container, place the insides in the strainer, run water over the insides, and use the spoon to mash the insides while the water is running over them.

That way you can separate the pulp from the seeds. HTH.

Carla.