Mango Lassi and Opportunism

Mango season is almost getting over and I am downing mangoes by the dozens! There’s a frantic need for me to consume as much as I can before I walk out one day and realize the mangoes are gone (for this year at least!). Now Frooti (it’s the largest selling mango drink in India) will have you believe that you can have fresh mango juice throughout the year… but we all know anything that’s stretched to make it live out of season is, well… bullshit. Opportunism is defined as the practice of taking advantage of circumstances with little regard for consequences. So my need to hoard in season, is justified I think! However, this drive to consume more mangoes than I possibly should, has some very visible repercussions – a couple of extra kilos! (Luckily a flowy summer top will hide most of the abnormalities :P). I digress as usual, but the point of this whole post was to tell you eat as many mangoes as you can before it’s too late!

Now the Mango Lassi is very popular out of India. It’s almost like the quintessential Indian Welcome Drink in any odd ‘Indian’ Restaurant. At home though, it’s more common to have mango juice or mango milkshake. I’ve only spotted Mango Lassi as a menu item in some of the beach shacks in Goa/Kerala and the reason for that definitely being the demand from some offshore residents! I remember a dear old French airhostess friend of mine, who would have dreams of mango lassi as soon as she boarded the flight to India! So whoever invented the Mango Lassi – I give you my thanks and gracefully bring it under the wing of ‘Indian’ recipes. We have no problem accepting something this good as our own creation J

Mango Lassi

Prep time: 10 mins

Serves 2

What you need:

1 cup Mango pieces (I like the Malgova/ Raspuri/ Alphonso variety for juice)

1 cup Thick Yoghurt, cold

½ cup Milk, cold

4 tsp Sugar

To Serve:

A pinch of Green Cardamom/ Elaichi powder and small mango pieces

What to do:

Puree the Mango pieces with the sugar in a blender. Now add the yogurt (ensure it’s not too tart) and whizz for a minute. Finally add in the milk and blend till it’s incorporated.

Pour into a glass. Garnish with small pieces of mango and cardamom powder. (The cardamom powder is optional but I’ve realized the aroma and flavor are what takes this to a whole new level of bliss!)

P.S. Take a green cardamom pod/ Elaichi and open it up. Now shake the black seeds out and crush them using a mortar and pestle. Homemade cardamom powder.