Mango ginger

• amba haldiआम्बा हल्दी

  Hindi

  Literally "mango turmeric". It is a Curcuma, like turmeric, and it is neither mango nor ginger — the name describes the smell.

• aam adaআম আদা

  Bengali

• mangai injiமாங்காய் இஞ்சி

  Tamil

• manga injiമാങ്ങ ഇഞ്ചി

  Malayalam

• maavinakaayi shunti

  Kannada

  Also used loosely for other aromatic Curcuma rhizomes; the fresh rhizome’s cream-coloured flesh and raw-mango smell identify it.

Crisp, fresh and slightly bitter, with a faint ginger-like bite and the mango aroma carrying through into the mouth.

Raw green mango, strongly and unmistakably, with a fresh, slightly resinous background.

Pale cream to light yellow flesh under a thin buff skin.

Crisp and fibrous when raw, like young ginger.

Peel with the edge of a spoon, cut into fine matchsticks and toss with lemon juice, salt and slit green chilli; it is ready in an hour and keeps a few days in the fridge. For chutney, grate it into coconut with green chilli and lime.

Eaten raw: quick lemon-and-chilli pickles, coconut chutneys, grated relishes, and occasionally stirred into a dal or curry at the very end. It is a fresh-aroma ingredient, used where the smell of green mango is wanted without its sourness.

• grinding — Grated or ground raw into chutney with coconut, green chilli and lime, which keeps the aroma intact.
• infusing — Cut into matchsticks and left in lemon juice and salt for a quick pickle; the acid keeps it crisp and the mango note stays.
• frying — Cooking dulls it quickly. Where it goes into a cooked dish it is added at the end.

Scratch the skin with a fingernail: fresh mango ginger smells immediately of raw mango and the flesh is firm and moist.

• Wrinkled, soft rhizome
• Little smell when scratched
• Mould or soft dark patches

• Drying and shrivelling
• Loss of the volatile mango aroma
• Mould on cut or damp surfaces

Zingiberaceae

A leafy perennial herb about a metre tall, like turmeric in habit, growing from a branching rhizome whose flesh is pale cream to light yellow rather than orange.

The Indian subcontinent; the plant is known in cultivation and naturalised stands across India, and mango-scented Curcuma occur into Southeast Asia.

• India — major producer. Grown on a small scale across the country, especially in the east and south, largely for local markets.

Rhizomes dug when the aerial parts wither, several months after planting, and sold fresh.

Grown like turmeric from rhizome pieces planted before the monsoon and harvested when the leaves die back; it is a minor crop grown alongside the major Curcuma rather than on its own scale.

Warm, humid tropical and subtropical conditions, the same as turmeric.

• Firm, heavy rhizomes with smooth skin.
• Pale cream flesh where the skin is scratched — orange flesh means turmeric.
• A strong raw-mango smell when scratched.

Used in Ayurvedic practice, chiefly as a digestive and applied externally for bruises. Recorded as tradition; SpiceHQ makes no health claim.