Ambarella

Ambarella
Spondias dulcis  , popularly known by the names ambarella, caja-manga amte kai etc. Ambarella is an equatorial or tropical tree, with edible fruit containing a fibrous pit.

Features
The tree of caja-manga can reach 15 feet tall. The fruit has a cylindrical shape with 6 to 10 cm in length, 5 to 9 cm diameter, and may weigh up to 380 g. It is a result of smooth, thin bark, which has bright, very aromatic and juicy flesh, sweet-sour taste and sour when ripe, with core coated with thorns (soft) irregular yellow coloring. It is a fruit rich in fiber.

It is widely used in the preparation of juices , cocktails , liqueurs and sorbets .

Uses
Spondias dulcis is most commonly used as a food source. In West Java, its young leaves are used as seasoning for pepes. In Costa Rica, the more mature leaves are also eaten as a salad green though they are tart. However, it is most commonly used for its fruit.

The fruit may be eaten raw; the flesh is crunchy and a little sour. According to Boning: "The fruit is best when fully colored, but still somewhat crunchy. At this stage, it has a pineapple-mango flavor. The flesh is golden in color, very juicy, vaguely sweet, but with a hint of tart acidity." In Indonesia and Malaysia, it is eaten with shrimp paste, a thick, black, salty-sweet sauce called hayko in the Southern Min dialect of Chinese. It is an ingredient in rujak in Indonesia and rojak in Malaysia. The juice is called kedondong in Indonesia, umbra in Malaysia, and balonglong in Singapore.

The fruit is made into preserves and flavorings for sauces, soups, and stews. In Fiji it is made into jam. In Samoa and Tonga it is used to make otai. In Sri Lanka the fruit is soaked in vinegar with chili and other spices to make the snack food acharu.

 It can be eaten with salt or made into a drink sweetened with sugar and spiced with ginger. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is curried, sweetened, salted, or flavored with pepper sauce. In Cambodia it is made into a salad called nhoum mkak. In Suriname, the fruit is dried and made into a spicy chutney, mixed with garlic and peppers.

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