🇸🇦 Arabicar
مسحوق المانجو
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar cottage industries, India
Amchoor
Apr–Jun
green mango window
unripe Mangifera indica
14%
citric + malic acid
of dry weight
3 d
sun-drying cycle
until leather-brittle
1 tsp
equals one lemon
in acid punch
Visual atlas
Profile
Amchoor is unripe green mango, sun-dried and milled to a fawn-coloured powder that smells of honey, resin and hay and delivers a sharp fruit acidity without adding liquid to the pan. The chemistry is driven by citric acid, malic acid and ascorbic acid concentrated by drying, plus a suite of fruity lactones and terpenes inherited from Mangifera indica. Indian cooks reach for it where western cooks would reach for lemon or vinegar, but with a specific reason: amchoor brings acid in a dry form, so you can season a dry-cooked sabzi, a spice rub, a tandoori marinade or a chickpea chaat without turning the dish soupy. It is the defining sour note of Punjabi chole, many Kashmiri and UP sabzis, the aloo dishes of North India, and the spice blend chaat masala, where it pairs with kala namak and roasted cumin. Dried slices (amchoor khatai) are still sold in parts of Rajasthan and Punjab and used to acidify slow-simmered dals.
Origin
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar cottage industries, India.
India
Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar cottage industries · Andhra Pradesh · green-mango belt
Process
01February
Flower set
Mangifera indica blossoms in the Andhra and UP groves. The tree is ancient, sometimes 100+ years old; growers watch for the tiny green nubs that will become mangoes.
02April
Green harvest
While ripe-mango growers wait until June, amchoor producers pick at peak sourness — hard, pale-green fruit, 60% citric+malic acid profile, zero sugar. Pickers shake and catch with nets.
03Day 1
Slicing
Green mangoes are peeled, pitted and cut into thin wedges or shreds. Work is done in the morning to avoid the afternoon heat spoiling the wet flesh.
04Day 1–3
Sun-drying
Wedges are spread on cotton sheets across flat rooftops in full Andhra sun. Three days of 40°C heat drives water out; the flesh turns leathery, then brittle.
05Day 4
Grinding
Dried mango is stone-milled or mechanically ground to a pale fibrous powder. Quality graders separate coarse (for pickles and rubs) from fine (for chaat masala).
06Your jar
Sour backbone
Packed in opaque jars with silica to fight India's monsoon humidity. Full acidity and aroma hold 12 months; replace annually.
Inside the berry
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
HPLC of sun-dried green mango: citric and malic acids dominate at 14% dry weight; the rest is fibre, sugar residue and aromatic esters.
14%
Total organic acid
citric + malic, dry weight
5%
Residual sugar
low — the mango was unripe
62%
Carbohydrate fibre
the flesh matrix
0.5%
Essential oil
aromatic esters
Volatile compound profile
- Citric acid9.5%
The bright, clean sour — same molecule as lemon.
- Malic acid4.2%
Softer, apple-like sour — rounds the citric edge.
- Succinic acid0.4%
Trace umami-acid — adds savoury depth.
- Ethyl butyrate (ester)0.1%
Pineapple-mango fruity top note.
- α-Terpinolene0.1%
Pine-citrus — signature Mangifera volatile.
- Furfural traces0.1%
Caramel-almond from slow sun-drying.
Versus other peppers
| Pepper | Citric + malic acid | Oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Andhra Pradesh powder Reference · deepest sour, longest dry | 14% | 0.5% |
Uttar Pradesh (Ghazipur) Softer, more aromatic, shorter dry | 12% | 0.6% |
Gujarat coarse-cut Pickle-grade, larger particle size | 11% | 0.4% |
Tamarind paste Wet equivalent, different fruit family | 10% | 0.1% |
Citric acid crystals Pure food acid, no fruit character | 100% | 0% |
Cuisines
How the world cooks with it.
3 signature dishes
Punjabi and Uttar Pradesh cooking uses amchoor as the dry acid that tamarind supplies in the south — in chana, aloo, gobi, tandoori.
- Chana masalagrade: andhra-amchoor
Chickpeas in onion-tomato-ginger masala with amchoor delivering the sour spine.
- Aloo gobigrade: andhra-amchoor
Dry potato-cauliflower with cumin, turmeric and a finishing dust of amchoor.
- Tandoori chicken rubgrade: up-ghazipur
Dry rub of chilli, garam masala, amchoor — sticks without wetting the yogurt base.
Around the world
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
🇨🇳 Chinesezh
芒果粉
🇬🇧 Englishen
Amchoor
🇫🇷 Frenchfr
Amchoor (mangue verte séchée)
🇩🇪 Germande
Amchur
🇮🇳 Hindihi
अमचूर
🇮🇹 Italianit
Amchur
🇯🇵 Japaneseja
アムチュール
🇵🇹 Portuguesept
Amchur
🇪🇸 Spanishes
Amchoor
Seasonality
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Peak green-mango pickActive harvestDried stock, available
Pairings
Protein
- Tandoori marinade
Plant
- Aloo gobi
- Bhindi do pyaza
Substitutes
- Tamarind paste (halve quantity)75% match
- Dried lemon zest + citric acid60% match· soon
Frequent questions
Unripe, sour green mangoes (Mangifera indica) — the same tree that gives us ripe yellow mango, picked 2–3 months early. The flesh is sliced, sun-dried until leathery, then ground to a pale beige powder that carries concentrated citric and malic acid.