It's a form of fish sauce. This is commonly used in other parts of the world for flavor. In Japan they use bonito. I would not recommend the Vietnamese-style fish sauce. While very common, I do not think most Americans would like it, it smells stinky and rancid. But bonito is pretty mild and adds a great flavor. Imagine the flavor of a chicken bouillon cube, except with a fish flavor instead of chicken. If you decided to not include the anchovies, I think the flavor would be cleaner, but it would also be less hearty and savory. It's a flavor that the Japanese describe as "umami", and includes meaty, soup broth, cheese, and mushroom, just to maybe help give you some idea.
Oops - Edit time ran out (grrrr). Let's try again.... What do you think is causing the blight? Interesting. A few years ago I planted some sort of Oregano in our herb bed and it did okay, but the Greek Oregano I'm growing in containers has done much better. It will die back in the Winter but it comes back strong in the Spring. In fact, I need to go out do a little harvesting because some of them are already getting ready to flower.
Leave it to the chef to know. I would have never guessed that - I've never cooked with tamarind in my life.
The blight is nasty. I had a thriving basil factory for a couple of years. Seemingly overnight, all the plants had horrid dark leaves. The blight guidelines said to smother the diseased plants in plastic bags. It suggested waiting a year before trying again in brand new soil. I did that. Within days, blight. I tried once more, two years,later. Same. I’ll get the oregano going again. It’s such a nice herb.
YES and how it orchestrates with the "stew". Si @Montegriffo Not overpower, but "le essence" Reminds me of a few Saffron Threads Long, La Mancha treads and not short stubby grade B threads Moi