From Khadija Ali of Tiffin's, Port of Spain Potato Chana Curry
The foods of Trinidad are such an amalgam, not only of the produce and cooking styles of Africans, Amer-Indians, Indians, Syrians, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, and French but also of different periods in the food histories of all those involved.
For an Indian from India, it is sometimes hard to understand the Trinidadian names of foods and spices that are of Indian origin. The names resonate of some thing familiar yet time and distance have distorted them, though not, at least yet, beyond all recognition. Masala, of course, means "spices," but amchar is curious. Achar is the word for 'pickle, "so these could originally have been pickling spices. Indeed, such spices are used for pickling in India.
Somewhere between a curry and a sweet chutney, this dish may be served with all South Asian, Malay-style, and Middle Eastern meals.
You need half-ripe mangoes here. Since these are what most commonly pass for mangoes in the Western world, they should not be hard to find. Each mango should be hard with yellow or pale orange flesh.
For the curry powder, I like to use Bolst's hot version. Ready-made amchar masala is sold by Caribbean grocers, though you can easily make your own and store it.
