40-Minute Amba

Brought to Israel by Iraqi Jews who had originally become familiar with pickled mangoes while living in India, amba (see photo on this page) has earned a place of pride as the weirdest, most delicious condiment on the falafel bar. With a slick viscosity (courtesy of fenugreek) and a yellow hue (thanks to turmeric) that can vary from sunshine yellow to vintage 1970s kitchen and is like nothing else you’ve ever eaten, amba’s distinctive funk is a love-it-or-hate-it proposition. Some recipes call for starting with ripe mangoes, but that gives you a base sweetness you need to counteract with lots more spice and salt; I’m going for maximum amba punch, so I curry extra favor in the shuk by scooping up rock-hard specimens no one else seems to want. I came up with the method to make a great amba in a little more than half an hour; many of the Israeli recipes I’ve seen call for pickling the unripe fruit days in advance, but my way (and the stealthy addition of fish sauce) allows you to bring almost as much of that distinctive tang to dinner on less than an hour’s notice.

Makes a generous 2 cups

Active Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

1 large or 2 medium completely unripe, green-skinned mangoes, such as Tommy Atkins variety (about 1 to 1¼ pounds)

1 medium onion, finely diced

1½ tablespoons chopped jalapeño, with seeds

2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more to taste

3 medium garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon ground turmeric

1½ teaspoons yellow mustard seeds

1 teaspoon ground fenugreek

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon sweet paprika

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon fish sauce

Peel the mango, discard the peels, and grate on the large holes of a box grater straight into a medium saucepan. Add 2 cups water, the onion, jalapeño, salt, garlic, turmeric, mustard seeds, fenugreek, cumin, and paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mango and onion have softened and the liquid has reduced slightly, adding water by the tablespoonful if the amba seems super thick or on the verge of burning, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool slightly, and stir in the lemon juice and fish sauce. Transfer the mixture to a blender or the bowl of a food processor. Puree until smooth and glossy, 20 seconds. Stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, amba lasts for 1 month.

Amba Mayo

To make the luscious spread that goes in my egg salad (this page), with Shawarma Pargiyot, and improves almost any sandwich, simply whisk together ¾ cup mayonnaise with ¼ cup 40-Minute Amba (or store-bought amba). Stored in an airtight container in the fridge, it lasts for up to 1 month.