Old-School Spiced Tamarind Balls
The School Gate & Corner Shop
Sold in brown paper bags at school gates and roadside parlors across the island after the three-thirty school bell, these treats rely on raw pods, granulated sugar, and the friction of your own hands. You suck the spiced fruit, the sour pulp sticks to your teeth, and you spit out the seeds like a seeded grape. We aren't boiling anything down, and we definitely aren't removing the seeds. Roll them tight, coat them twice, do not wipe your hands, and let a splash of overproof rum bite through the sugar as a pinch of salt sharpens the acid.
Before you start
Procure food-safe disposable gloves.
You are going to aggressively hand-knead raw Scotch bonnet pepper and incredibly sticky fruit pulp; bare hands are asking for trouble.
Ingredients
- fresh sour tamarind pods1 1/2 lb
- Jamaican brown sugar1 1/2 cup
- granulated white sugar1/2 cup
- Scotch bonnet pepper1 small
- kosher salt1/2 tsp
- Jamaican white overproof rum1 tsp
Method
- 01
Extract the tamarind pulp.
Working over a large bowl, crack the brittle brown shells of the pods and peel them away, taking care to pull off and discard the stringy, fibrous veins running along the sides of the sticky fruit. Drop the peeled fruit directly into the bowl, leaving the hard seeds completely intact, and ensure no tiny fragments of shell remain.
- 02
Add the spice and spirit.
Toss the minced Scotch bonnet pepper, kosher salt, and overproof rum into the bowl with the tamarind pulp.
- 03
Knead the sugar into the pulp by hand.
Put on a pair of food-safe disposable gloves to protect your hands from the hot pepper and extreme stickiness. Add a half cup of the brown sugar and aggressively massage it directly into the fruit; as you work it, the sugar will dissolve into the acidic moisture of the tamarind to form a cohesive mass.
- 04
Form the dough.
Continue adding the remaining brown sugar in half-cup increments, kneading continuously until the mixture feels like a thick, moldable, slightly sticky dough. If a few seeds naturally fall out during this violent kneading process, simply discard them.
- 05
Roll and coat the candies.
Pour the granulated white sugar onto a wide, shallow plate. Pinch off a small piece of the tamarind dough—roughly the size of a large marble containing two or three seeds—and roll it firmly between your palms to form a neat ball, then drop it into the white sugar and roll until evenly coated.
- 06
Let the crust set.
Place the coated balls on a parchment-lined tray and let them sit at room temperature for an hour or two so the exterior sugar can crystallize into a dry crust. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Mind your teeth.
The traditional way to eat these is to place the whole ball in your mouth, suck away the sweet and sour pulp, and discreetly spit out the clean seeds. Do not bite down hard.
Sourcing the tamarind.
Look for fresh sour tamarind pods (often labeled "tamarindo") in the produce section of Mexican, Asian, or Caribbean markets. Do not substitute with jarred tamarind paste or sweet Thai tamarind.
Swapping the spice.
If you can't find a fresh Scotch bonnet, substitute half of a habanero pepper, or a teaspoon of high-quality Caribbean pepper sauce.
From Cook Jamaican in America.