*This post may contain affiliate links. Read more »
This amba recipe’s got that slap-you-awake big energy with everyday ingredients, green mangoes, and a quick, fool-proof ferment. No hard-to-find stuff, no weeklong wait, just night, craveable flavor that smacks.
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Amba is especially beloved in Iraqi-Jewish and Israeli street food, famously spooned into sabich or drizzled on vegan shawarma or vegan kofta. The name comes from the Sanskrit “āmra” for mango, and the flavor is unmistakable: sharp, sour, pungent, and super-addictive.
Most homemade versions are either underwhelming -made with ripe mango, or (shudder) frozen mango, or take days to pull off, and go bad on you easily. But this one comes in swinging with classic flavor-bomb brightness and depth without a ton of fuss.
Jump to:
🥰Why you’ll adore this amba recipe
✊ Vegan AF: No yogurt, no anchovies, no mystery funk from a fish, just mango, spice, and pure plant-powered flavors in a jar. Like all vegan Middle Eastern recipes I make, this doesn’t need animal products to slap.
🫙 Keeps like a champ: This batch will hold in the fridge for weeks. Make it once and smear it on everything.
🍋 Adjust it your way: Prefer chunky? Like it screaming hot? Smooth and mild? This recipe is flexible without falling apart.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Like all of the vegan recipes I share, this has been made, tweaked, and fine-tuned by hundreds of recipe testers.
🤘Learn to make killer vegan Middle Eastern food
This guide to my most popular plant-based Middle Eastern recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🥭Amba Ingredients
Firm, unripe mangoes
Young green mangoes are the absolutel soul of amba—tart, crunchy, and way more assertive than your average fruit. These are the same raw mangoes used in Indian mango pickle and asinan buah. You need unripe mangoes that haven’t gone soft on you; ripe ones will sweeten the whole thing, will not ferment the same way, and will throw the flavor off course.
Salt
First, it pulls water from the mango to start a little magic ferment, like in vegan kimchi; most of that salt's just there to fend off the bad bacteria and won’t end up in your final sauce, because it gets rinsed off.
Cumin seeds
Toasted just enough to wake them up, these guys add that warm, earthy depth you taste before you even know it’s cumin. It’s subtle, but critical. I can’t just shut up about Burlap & Barrel’s wild mountain cumin—it’s the kind of piney, high-altitude flavor that shines in makdous, Moroccan lentils, and zaalouk. Regular cumin seeds or ground cumin work fine too.
Get my fave cumin seeds for free!
Using this link, add the wild mountain cumin to your cart, spend at least $15 on some of the other absurdly good spices from Burlap & Barrel (they all seriously slap) and the bottle of this bangin' wild mountain cumin becomes FREE, and you will love it so much.
Mustard seeds
Once they hit the pan and start popping, they release a tangy funk that’s all part of amba’s signature vibe. You can use yellow or brown mustard seeds. Toast until fragrant and loud.
Fenugreek seeds
Toasting fenugreek seeds helps mellow it out, but even a pinch too much will dominate. This little seed’s a heavy-hitter, essential in curry powders like my Madras curry powder and Japanese curry powder recipes. Use sparingly for just the right whisper of bitter.
Sumac
Think citrus, but dry and deep. Sumac cuts through the richness and lifts everything with a tart zing. It’s a must in Moroccan carrot salad, Turkish ezme, and smoky mutabal, too. Plus, that gorgeous color doesn’t hurt.
Aleppo pepper
Aleppo pepper brings heat, but gently. It’s fruity, warm, and not trying to set your face on fire. You’ll spot it in tons of other Middle Eastern recipes like matbucha, zhoug, and bolani. If you don’t have it, gochugaru (seedless Korean chili flakes) is a solid backup with a similar mellow heat. If you sub in crushed red pepper, use less; it’s a heck of a lot spicier.
Dijon mustard
Maaaaaybe not completely traditional, but definitely welcome. It adds a smooth, tangy body that rounds everything out. I like a sharper Dijon-style mustard like Maille, but whatever mustard you’ve got in the fridge will work just fine.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
🤯Variations
Amba tahini sauce
Stir in some tahini sauce (you can use my tarator recipe) for a seriously bomb creamy drizzle that was basically made for sabich and falafel wraps.
Chunky amba
After pureeing, fold in additional chopped, brined, and rinsed green mango for a chunky texture that pops on sandwiches and French fries, too.
📖 How to make amba sauce
These steps are here to help you ferment without summoning the ghost of a sour pickle. Wanna skip the nerdy spice moves and just get to the goods? Scroll to the bottom for the print-friendly recipe card.
Step One
Takes Two to Mango:
Place mango slices in a bowl and coat with salt. Toss to mix evenly.
Step Two
Letter of Ferment:
Move the salted mango to a clean glass jar. Let it sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, for 1–3 days.
✅ Let them sit for a minimum of 24 hours. More if you like a funkier, more umami-rich amba sauce.
Step Three
Lord of the Rinse:
Drain and rinse the mango in a wire mesh strainer under cold water. Let it drip dry.
✅ You want to get as much of the salty brine off as possible so it doesn’t throw off the salinity of the sauce in the end.
Step Four
The Spice Is Right:
Toast cumin, mustard, and fenugreek seeds in a dry saucepan over low-medium heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring until fragrant.
Step Five
Sim Simmer, Who’s Got the Keys to My Bimmer:
Add drained mango, sumac, Aleppo pepper, turmeric, water, brown sugar, vinegar, Dijon, garlic, and salt to the saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Step Six
Appetite for Reduction:
Reduce to low and cook covered for 15–20 minutes until thickened and completely tender.
Step Seven
Cool Runnings:
Remove from heat. Cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender, add olive oil, and blend smooth or leave slightly chunky.
Step Eight
Season Finale:
Taste and adjust salt, vinegar, and texture if needed. Store in a clean jar in the fridge.
💡Serving Ideas
This amba isn’t just for sabich (though it slaps with the force of 1,000 wild ponies there, obviously).
Drizzle it on grilled soslu patlıcan (Turkish fried eggplant), spoon into a warm Arabic pita with crispy tofu, or swirl onto some harissa hummus for the dip of your dreams.
It’s killer over roasted harissa cauliflower, or for dipping some baharat-dusted fries in.
Over Persian rice with harissa chickpeas? Duh, of course.
Basically, if it needs a sour-spicy kick, amba’s your ride-or-die.
👉Top tips
- Ferment Smart: If you have time, let the salted mango hang out for a few days before making the salt. Make sure you put it in a sterilized jar (just boiling it first is fine) so there’s no bacteria that's gonna mess your sauce up for ya.
- Cool Before Blending: Hot mango sludge in a blender = disaster. Let things cool down before you puree unless you enjoy head-to-toe lava skin care routines.
- Store It Right: A clean, tight-sealing jar in the fridge keeps your amba poppin’ for 2–3 weeks. Bonus points if you label it (with the date) so you don’t forget what that mystery gold sauce is.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
When stored in a clean, tightly sealed jar, amba keeps for 2–3 weeks in the fridge. The longer it sits, the deeper and funkier it gets—in the best way.
Not really. Frozen mangoes are soft and ripe, and will be too sweet for proper Amba.
Nope. Amba is its own thing, sharp, fermented, spiced, and sour. Chutney’s sweeter and more jam-like. They don’t even live on the same shelf of my fridge.
✌️You'll love these vegan Middle Eastern recipes too:
Learn the secrets to perfect falafel in this fun cooking class with Chef Adam Sobel!
Amba Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups firm unripe mangoes, peeled and sliced thinly
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- ½ teaspoon sumac
- 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ cup water adjust for desired thickness
- 4 teaspoons brown sugar or coconut sugar
- ¼ cup white vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 ½ teaspoon garlic minced
- ⅓ cup water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Place the mango slices in a bowl and sprinkle with salt.
- Transfer the salted mango into a clean glass jar, and allow it to sit out for 1-3 days at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
- Drain and thoroughly rinse the mangoes in a wire mesh strainer under cold running water. Allow them to drip dry.
- Toast the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and fenugreek seeds in a dry saucepan over low-medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
- Add the drained mango slices, sumac, Aleppo pepper, turmeric, water, brown sugar, vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, water and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce to low heat and cook covered for 15–20 minutes, until the mango softens and the mixture thickens.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Transfer to a blender along with the olive oil and puree until smooth, or leave slightly chunky if preferred.
- Taste and adjust seasoning and thickness to your preference. Store in a clean, airtight container in the refrigerator.
Notes
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cinnamon Snail.
Leave a Reply