It was a busy day for me today – one tennis league was finishing up and one was just starting, so that meant two matches in the summer sun – a lot of sunscreen and fifty (!) tennis games later, it was most definitely time for happy hour.
One of our favorite Mexican restaurants has a house margarita that is made with tamarind. It’s awesome. During one of Roomie’s visit’s we tried to perfect it.
And you know what makes something perfect? A lot of practice. I am very happy to keep practicing this recipe. This makes two drinks worth.
Tamarind Magarita
Prepare tamarind “sauce”: Take 1 tbsp tamarind paste (available at Asian and Mexican groceries) add about ¼ cup of water. Warm and stir until everything is well mixed.
Prepare two glasses with a chili-powder/salt rim. (Adjust chili-ness to your own liking)
To your shaker add:
- 3 oz tequila
- 1 tbsp tamarind sauce (adjust to taste)
- ½ oz simple syrup
- 1 oz lime juice
- ½ oz citronage (or triple sec)
- 1 oz orange juice (we used blood oranges because we had them)
- Add ice, shake vigorously and strain into already-prepped glasses.
Tamarind Margarita
Oh yeah. My shoulder feels better already!
Stevil 
yummmmmmmmyyyyyy
That sounds amazing!
The second one was nearly as good — and the third one, well, I don’t remember much about that one…
Pretty. To avoid a ride to hospital, I’d use vodka (allergic to agave!).
MT — you’ll have to be careful, agave nectar is the new “in” foodie sweetener.
I have tamarind sauce in the fridge, but I normally use just a smidgen to make yogurt sauce to serve with fiery Indian food. Doesn’t it make the margarita a tad tart?
It does add a good-soury tang to the drink, which is offset with the orange and simple syrup. The amount of tamarind is up to you, of course… :)
looks yummy. but i don’t have the patience so I’ll stick with blood orange soda and some vodka. and maybe invite myself for drinks the next time i’m down your way! lol.
Well — the patience is all in getting the tamarind paste/sauce. After that it takes about 60 seconds to assemble… :) Which of course is longer than the 10 seconds for a blood-orange screwdriver… :)
Yum. As a bartender and freelance caterer I am always looking for new recipies and infusions. Blood oranges are fantastic to work with. I recently made a nice sangria with Rioja, Granny Smith Apples, Peaches, Starwberries, Lemon, Lime,Clementines laced with brandy and a hint of sugar.
We couldn’t find any blood oranges but the clementines had a nice delicate flavor
Trevor — thanks for the comment. We were just having a conversation last week about making up a good sangria as the weather has finally turned warm here. We get our citrus via our CSA box and all the citrus goes into cocktails… ;)
There’s a good sidecar variation made with clementines here. Cheers!
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