Tamarind Margarita

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a tamarind margarita… They bring back fond memories of summer evenings spent with friends on the patio of the since-closed El Rey de Sol in NYC.  For Cinco de Mayo, I decided to create my own version of this tangy, tasty drink.  Reyna’s sells dried tamarind pods which can be boiled to make the puree for this cocktail, but when I saw Goya brand frozen puree in the freezer case, I decided to take a shortcut.  You can  find ancho chile powder at Reyna’s, but I already had some I purchased at Penzey’s awhile ago.

After thawing the frozen puree, this cocktail couldn’t be more easy to put together.

Ingredients
2 parts tequila
1 part orange liquor
1 part fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 part tamarind puree
Ice
Lime wedges
Coarse sea salt
Ancho chile powder

1.  For the salt to rim the glass, mix the coarse salt with a small pinch of the ancho chile powder on a small plate.

2.  Combine the tequila, orange liquor, lime juice, and tamarind puree in a cocktail shaker with ice.  Give it a good shake to mix everything together and get it chilled.

3.  Rub the rim of a glass with a lime wedge, and place into the salt to coat the rim of the glass.

4.  Add a couple ice cubes to the glass and pour in the shaken cocktail.  Garnish with a lime wedge if you like, and enjoy!

Click here to download a printable PDF of this recipe.