February 13, 2007: Mango lassi

Michael cooked up a mighty fine curry tonight (appearing soon!) and my small contribution was to whip up a mango lassi. I've read that the lassi is traditionally enjoyed at the end of a meal, but I prefer to have one with my Indian meals to combat the spiciness. A lassi fills me up and leaves a sweet aftertaste, so I rarely crave dessert after one anyway.

Mango lassi

Remove the skin and stone from a mango, and roughly chop the flesh. Blitz the mango in a food processor until smooth. Add about 100g of yoghurt, 100mL of milk, a tablespoon of castor sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cardamom. Blend again until well combined. Pour into two large (or three small) glasses and serve with ice.

Variations:

• When they're out of season, use canned mango. You could also replace some of the milk with the mango juice/syrup (omit the sugar).
• Use another fruit! Pineapple and berries are both recommended by Mridula Baljekar.
• Next time I might try replacing the yoghurt and milk with buttermilk. It has the tanginess of yoghurt but is thinner and more drinkable.
• Add a teaspoon of rose water.