Tamarind Dip

This is the green dip that Indian restaurants often serve with poppadums as an appetizer. Makes about one cup.

7oz block of compressed tamarind
1 small onion, roughly chopped
half a green pepper, seeded and roughly chopped
1 heaped tsp chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
0.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp concentrated mint sauce
1.5 heaped tsp tomato ketchup

Break the tamarind up into a bowl with 10 fl oz water and leave it to soak overnight. Squeeze the pulp and discard it, then strain the liquid into another bowl. Using a blender, make the onion, pepper and coriander into a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients and the strained tamarind liquid, and blend until smooth. Serve with poppadums.