Mango Lassi

Lassi is a popular and traditional Punjabi yogurt-based drink of the Indian Subcontinent. It is made by blending yogurt with water or milk and Indian spices. Traditional lassi (also known as salted lassi, or, simply lassi) is a savory drink sometimes flavored with ground roasted cumin while sweet lassi on the other hand is blended with sugar or fruits instead of spices.

In Dharmic religions, yogurt sweetened with honey is used while performing religious rituals. Less common is lassi served with milk and is topped with a thin layer of clotted cream. Lassis are enjoyed chilled as a hot-weather refreshment, mostly taken with lunch. With a little turmeric powder mixed in, it is also used as a folk remedy for gastroenteritis.

Mango lassi is most commonly found in India though it is gaining popularity worldwide. It is made from yogurt, milk or water and mango pulp. It may be made with or without additional sugar. It is widely available in UK, Malaysia and Singapore, due to the sizable Indian minority, and in many other parts of the world. In various parts of Canada, mango lassi is a cold drink consisting of sweetened kesar mango pulp mixed with yogurt, cream, or ice cream. It is served in a tall glass with a straw, often with ground pistachio nuts sprinkled on top.

My son does not like nuts so I did not sprinkle pistachio on top, but this is a good option for all of you who are not allergic to nuts.

Here is how I made this Lassi this time.


Ingredients:


* 2 Mangoes peeled, sliced (use mangoes with no fibrous pulp)

* One 30 oz of Mango pulp (sweetened)

* 4 cups of plain yogurt (I used home made, but you can use plain greek yogurt for best results, but Dannon plain yogurt is fine too)

* 2 cups of half and half or regular milk (or you can even use evaporated milk)

* 2 tablespoon of sugar (or to taste)

* Although I did not use it, but you can add few strands of saffron dissolved in table spoon of milk.

* 1 cup of Crushed ice

* Few Mint leaves for garnish.

* 1/4 cup of roasted crushed or sliced Pistachios for garnish on top of Lassi in each serving glass (optional)



Method:

* Place all ingredients in a deep container (except crushed ice) and blend it with hand blender until smooth or you can use regular blender to make this Lassi.

* I served it with crushed ice in tall 12 oz traditional Lassi glasses from Punjab. If using regular blender to make the drink you can puree it with the crushed ice in the blender.

* Garnish with mint leave on the rim of serving glass or slice of Mango, I did not have Mint so I opted for later.

* You may garnish each serving by topping the lassi with crushed or sliced roasted pistachios (as I mentioned earlier I did not do it this time)



This recipe makes six 12 oz servings.



Lassi Description source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lassi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_3.0_Unported_License

Recipe and Photographs by Surekha.