Add a Pinch of This $3 Pantry Staple for the Most Flavorful Chicken Salad (It’s Also Amazing on Roasted Potatoes!)

There are two types of cooks in the world: those who measure ingredients with their hands, and those who measure with their hearts. I fall into the latter category. 

There are times when I’m making a dish that needs a pop of sourness, and I don’t have lemon or vinegar. On occasion, I’ve accidentally added too much mayonnaise to a chicken or tuna salad and, even though the dish craves some tartness, I don’t want to add more liquid to make the mixture runny. In these instances, I turn to my secret ingredient: Deep’s Amchur Powder.

Used for centuries primarily in Indian cuisine, amchur (also known as amchoor) is made by grinding dried, unripened green mangoes. Unlike the sweet and juicy, fleshy yellow mango that we typically find in the grocery store, green mangoes are tart, tangy, and ever so slightly bitter.

Consequently, amchur is the perfect instrument for adding sourness and complexity to a dish without the additional liquid. So, if you need a bit more tartness on tortilla chips without making them soggy, add amchur. If your deviled eggs need some acidity without making the mixture looser, add amchur.

Amchur is quite strong, roughly four to five times more compared with the juice of a typical lemon you’d buy at the grocery store. The potency varies depending on the brand, so I recommend putting a pinch or amchur in your dish to start, tasting it, and adding more if required.

Cooks in Indian cuisine use amchur in a variety of dishes, like pickles (known in Hindi as achaar), daals (a lentil soup), and meat marinades. I’ve found it translates well to some of my favorite Western dishes as well, like roasted potatoes. The roasted potatoes I make are spicy, fatty, and anything but soggy.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Starting with cold water, bring your potatoes to a boil for about 15 minutes. You can use any variety, but if you use a big potato like a russet, I’d cut them into about 3/4-inch cubes. At this point, the potatoes shouldn’t be cooked through, but you should be able to insert a knife into them with a little effort.

Drain the potatoes and let them sit so they’re cool enough to handle with your hands. Once cool, smash or squeeze the potatoes with your hand. I promise it’s fun and a great activity for kids! The extra surface area from the smashed potatoes creates wonderfully crisp bits.

Place the potatoes on a baking sheet with a generous (I mean generous!) amount of your favorite olive oil (or your preferred cooking oil!), salt, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and another heaping pinch of amchur. Roast for about 20 minutes, take them out of the oven, and give them a stir. Finish roasting them for another 20 minutes or until the potatoes are a rich golden, brown color, and crunchy. Let cool for about 5 minutes, have a taste (and put more salt and amchur if necessary), and enjoy. The potatoes should be a delightful combination of spicy, salty, and sour-y.

Buy: Deep Amchur Powder, $2.99 for 7 ounces at Weee!

What’s your secret to the best roasted potatoes? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: Add a Pinch of This $3 Pantry Staple for the Most Flavorful Chicken Salad (It’s Also Amazing on Roasted Potatoes!)