Kenya is increasingly the ideal environment for tamarind, present on the Swahili coast since it was brought and planted from India a thousand years ago.
Tamarindus Indica is a majestic, long-lived evergreen belonging to the leguminous family.
The tamarind plant and its properties were already known in ancient times where traces of it can be found among the Arab peoples who called it Tamara Hindi (Indian date). The tree produces as brown fruit-legumes, which contain pulp and hard seeds. 
The legumes are generally 10-15 cm long, slightly curved, and contain up to a dozen seeds.
The flesh of unripe fruits is very sour and therefore suitable for serving dishes, while ripe fruits are sweeter and can be used as desserts or to prepare drinks.
The pulp is also used as a spice in both Asian and African cuisine, and is an important ingredient in Worchester sauce.
Pulp, leaves and bark have medical applications.
For example, in Sudan the leaves have traditionally been used for herbal teas to combat malaria fevers.
In India it is used in Ayurvedic medicine for gastric or digestive problems and against toothache. 
Once you have purchased tamarind it is advisable to break the rind and extract the seeds with your hands, which are covered with sticky pulp.
It is not very convenient to clean and extract the pulp because inside each pod there is little pulp and the work is often annoying. 
For convenience you can also boil the pods to release the pulp.
Tamarind has remarkable properties. The pulp is composed of 31% water, 57% sugar, 5% dietary fibre, ash, protein and fat. The main constituents are pectins and simple sugars. 
Among the various minerals present in tamarind there is high amounts of potassium, then phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, calcium and selenium, while it is a source of vitamin A, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, vitamin C, K, and J.
The intake of tamarind is very useful in case of gastric or digestive problems; it has good laxative properties and is an excellent intestinal regulator thanks to the presence of organic acids inside its pulp, especially tartaric acid. 
For this purpose, jam is used, which can also be administered to children as it does not cause pain in the colon.
Tamarind is used to combat rheumatic fevers; in India it is also used to treat toothache.
Tamarind is also considered an excellent refreshment and is particularly useful in summer to restore the loss of mineral salts due to perspiration.