Amba (condiment)

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For the legendary daughter of the King of Kashi in the Mahabarata, see Amba.

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Amba (Hebrew: עמבה‎, Arabic: عمبه‎) is a spicy, brownish-yellow mango pickle commonly eaten in Iraq. It is also popular in India, where it is widely manufactured and bottled for the world market. However, Indian cuisine, particularly that which is eaten in North America, tends to favor other mango pickles, particularly achar. The main differences between amba and achar are that amba has large pieces of mango rather than small cubes and that it uses more vinegar and no oil, and the pickle for the amba tends to be more dense. Other than that, the two types of pickles are about the same. The ingredients in amba typically include mangoes, vinegar, salt, mustard, turmeric, and chili. Another important ingredient in amba is fenugreek, which gives it a distinct flavour and scent. It is the fenugreek in the amba which alters body odour following sufficient consumption. It is commonly eaten on its own, particularly by Iraqis, and is sometimes used, particularly in Israel, as a sandwich topping.

Amba enjoys much popularity in Israel, to where it was brought by Iraqi Jews. The food item was very popular among Iraqi Jews and a popular notion in Israel, particularly in the 50s and 60s when they first arrived, was that Iraqis cannot live without amba in the morning. However, mangos and some of the seasonings were very expensive, so stores that sold amba tended to dilute it with a lot of water. Amba is often used to dress sabikh and is sometimes available wherever falafel and shawarma are sold.