Who doesn't know Lassi or Mango Lassi. I never thought this will be one drink which gets so famous around the world. Its a cold beverage made with natural yogurt, sugar and water/ice cubes. The plain good old normal Lassi seems to be taken a back space here in Europe but Mango Lassi seems be to a favourite. Lassi is a very nutritious and healthy drink and its such a filler too. While I was growing up we used to have normal Dahi दही लस्सी natural yogurt lassi all the time.
To be honest I first tasted Mango lassi many many years ago at at Restaurant in Singapore in about 1995! Wow! that sounds like ancient history and I sound old, better deal with it and move on. So moving on.... there was this nice Indian Annapurna restaurant at the Changi airport. The speciality of this restaurant was that most of the staff used to be housewives. They would serve you the food in nice silk Kanjeevaram Saree's. The food was amazing and the service very polite and friendly. We had our Dosas and then we saw Lassi and we ordered. While we took a first sip of the Lassi, we thought it went bad. The lassi was in the colour of a mango shake but the taste was of the Lassi. We asked the staff and that's where they told us its mango Lassi. Until now we were used to normal white Lassi or milky mango shake. This was an entirely new product but when we let our brains think that its yogurt with mango. It worked and then it tasted great! I don't know who invented Mango Lassi but whatever it is its a good discovery, almost very little and insignificant but very tasty.
Now is the time to make the most delicious Mango lassi as its the Mango season. The more I talk about this King of fruits, the less it is. I really think the Alfanso should also be Gods favourite food. It is just out of this world. If you can get your hands on this variety of Mango then your drink is already a winner, otherwise you could very well use the need acMango slices or mango puree. If you happen to get some any other mango its good too.
Here is what you will need for a serving for 4 people - 4 Alfanso mangoes (pulp from them) or 400 gms mango pulp - 500 gms natural yogurt - 4 tsp sugar (or to taste) - 1 and half cup chilled water or 1 cup water and a handful of ice cubes - hand mixer or a normal mixer
- handfull of chopped pistachios Method: 1. Wash the mangoes, cut the top eye part. Peel it with a knife and not a peeler. save pieces from one mango for garnishing later. 2. Take the one and a half cup water in a bowl and add the mango peels to this bowl. 3. Scrape the flesh off the mangoes and put it either in a mixer jar or a jug(I use handmixer). 4. Add the mango stones to the water bowl too. Now with your hands rub the stone and the skins in the water and you will see we will get a lot of juice and super flavour from there. 5. Take the water from the peels and add it to the yogurt box, shake the box to get the extra bit of yogurt and add this to the fruit. 6. Add all the ingredients together and give it a good blitz and there you have your silky, smooth mango lassi ready.
7. Serve your Lassi with a piece of fresh fruit as garnish and sprinkle with pistachios. 8. I served it today morning to T with her breakfast. She gave me a thumps up! I hope you will give me too :)
Tips: - Scrubbing the mango peels in water could be a messy process for some of you but I have seen my Mom used the peels like that. Firstly you don't waste anything and secondly the flavour you get from the peels is amazing. But its entirely up to you if you want to do this or not. - If you want even a more finer Lassi, you could also sieve it through a sieve. - The consistency of lassi is entirely a personal choice. I like it on the thicker side, but R likes it a bit runny. So you can add more or less water depending on that. - A lot depends on your yogurt too, I used store bought yogurt, which is quite close to Greek yogurt, but if you are using homemade yogurt then I think you either don't need any water and if you do then half cup should be enough for the peels. - 4 tsp sugar could sound on a little less sugary side which is true, but to taste the mango I like it this way, you get the taste of the fruit and not just a very sweet drink. - Enjoy this summer cooler.