Chat Masala

Amchoor is a fruity spice with a tart, astringent, but not unpleasant flavor. It lends an acidic brightness to the foods it is applied to. Amchoor is a predominant flavoring agent in north Indian cookery, where it is used to flavor samosa and pakora fillings, stews and soups, and fruit salads and pastries. It is added to marinades for meat and poultry as an enzymatic tenderizer, and lends its sourness to chutneys and pickles. Chat masala, a tart Indian spice blend used to season fruit salads and juices, salads, and a variety of snacks, contains amchoor as a predominant ingredient. To make amchoor, early-season mangos are harvested while still green and unripe. Most commonly, they are harvested from uncultivated trees growing in the wild or collected from the ground, rather than removed from the agriculturally supervised plantings of mangoes that are grown for export.