Mango Lassi

The first time I was introduced to the mango lassi I could not help but be skeptical. Milk? With mangos? I had long since freed myself of the superstitions that had haunted me as a young child (or so I thought), but to be so outwardly defiant of them? To deliberately mix milk with mangos was, to me, akin to deliberately going out of your way to walk under a ladder. Why risk it?

But boy was I (and all Brazilian nay-sayers) wrong! Those Indians sure know how to make an exciting, refreshing drink! And who could blame them, with the soaring summer temperatures in the sub-continent and an abundance of tropical fruits?

Once you go lassi you never go back, and I have from that day on always ordered a mango one when I go to an Indian restaurant -- no death by abdominal cramping, I promise!

Could it possibly be true that for every food-related superstition there exists an equal and opposite delicious recipe on the other side of the world?


I bought 3 pounds of ripe mangos the other day and in the hot muggy weather we've been getting lately here in Changsha they were very quickly going overripe.

I made the mango I could not finish into a delicious mango lassi using the recipe below, found at Simple Recipes (no cardamom in mine):

Mango Lassi Recipe -

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped mango (peeled and stone removed)
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste
A dash of ground cardamom (optional)

METHOD:
Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve. Can sprinkle with a little cardamom.
The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
Makes about 2 cups.

Enjoy!