*Without using a strainer you can extract the microwaved and cooled tamarind and water using your hands as a strainer and by placing a bowl underneath to hold the extracted juice. *If you do not have a microwave you can also use boiling water to soak the lemon sized portion of the tamarind . After adding boiling water to tamarind, leave them for 10 to 15 minutes. Then squeeze them well using your hands or ladle and then extract the juice /pulp using the strainer or using your hands. *You can also extract 2nd time using the leftover (remaining ) tamarind pulp in the strainer . And repeat the whole step from the beginning again to get as much of the flesh/ pulp from the tamarind. (This step is useful if preparing Indian recipes like rasam soup , kuzhambu, sambar). * Prepared Tamarind juice / pulp can be stored in the refrigerator for a week. *Tamarind paste which is sold in the Asian market are ready to use and is a simple way to use them in your recipes.