Tracing the tamarind's roots

The tamarind (tamarindus indica) is such an integral ingredient of most Indian kitchens that it is often thought of as having originated in India. The story, though, comes with a tangy twist – researchers have noted that the tree is indigenous to Africa. In fact, the Senegalese capital of Dakar gets its name from the word in Wolof language (dakhar) which means tamarind.

Arab traders, who thought of the tamarind fruit as a date, called it the Indian date, and named it tamar-al-hind aka tamar-i-hind, and took it to other parts of the world as well. The mention of the tamarind in the ancient Indian text, ‘Brahma Samhita’, is indication that the tree was naturalised millennia ago.

It is now by consensus accepted among botanists that the tree originated in Africa, and came to India, and the rest of the world from there. According to venerated botanist Julia F Morton, who has written ‘Fruits of Warm Climates’, the tamarind “was so long ago introduced into and adopted in India that it has often been reported as indigenous there also.” Irrespective of who brought the tamarind to India, it occupies pride of place in the country’s cuisine – be it the ubiquitous tamarind chutney, an accompaniment for chaats, samosas, or puliyogare / pulihora, huli/sambar or saaru/rasam. It is also integral to Southeast Asian cuisine, and added in sauces for pad thai, for instance. Then, there’s England’s Worcestershire sauce which also uses tamarind paste, but that’s another story for another day.

(Origin Story is a column that attempts to satiate your curiosity about the history of a certain ingredient or dish.)