Open the jar and it’s glossy, golden and softly set, pieces of mango cooked down slowly with sugar and vinegar until they turn tender and jammy, sharp sweetness meeting a slow, warming chilli heat. Cinnamon, cardamom, clove and pepper hum quietly underneath, with garlic and ginger rounding it out. It’s sweet, followed by a slight tang, then a gentle build of heat.

This is a jar for far more than the curry table. Make a rich glaze for pan-fried prawns, spoon it over a sharp cheddar or a creamy brie, fold it into a cheese toastie, or pile it onto a ham or chicken sandwich. It lifts a curry or a bowl of rice and turns a plate of poppadums into something moreish.

We make it from the Kohu amba, a wild Sri Lankan mango whose name refers to the fibrous, coir-like texture of its flesh. Green-skinned and doesn’t turn sweet even as it matures, it’s a variety few would eat fresh, which is exactly why it’s prized for pickles and chutneys. These trees aren’t farmed; they grow of their own accord in home gardens and forest patches across the island’s wet zone, and our fruit is foraged by local collectors, gathered from the communities where it grows.