Called tamarind in English, these pods are brown, hard-shelled legumes usually sold in the shattered state, making the acid pulp more accessible. The ones shown above are about ten inches long. Tamarind pulp is mixed with water and sweetened to make a tasty drink, but it's so acid that it can't be good for the teeth. The seeds are too hard to eat. These legumes are picked from large trees, Tamarindus indica, in the Bean Family, native of the Old World tropics
Guaje
There's no good English name for guaje, the flat, green pods shown at the right. Usually they're sold in tied-together
bunches, and contain small, tasty beans. The pods, about a foot long, are produced on trees
of the genus Leucaena, which is native to the Americas, and a
member of the bean family. Guaje seeds are eaten raw, sometimes cooked, and
sometimes used to season the dish called huaxmole.