Sweet Lassi

Known as the summer drink in northern India, you will find exclusive lassi joints all busy with serving this in earthern glasses known as Khullads. With the mercury reaching almost a 100 degrees on peak heat days, this drink can stave off heat strokes and keep you cool. You can check this recipe on the Fox news website.

One interesting story from Punjab runs that the local lassi shops modified electric motors and parts from washing machine manufacturers and turned them into whisking their daily gallons of lassi. To make it creamier you can use greek yogurt that gives it a smoother feel. Mango lassi, which is another variation of this original version is very popular in the west.

Mango Lassi

This is one of the most popular drinks that is ordered in Indian restaurants in America.  It is simple to make and can be made ahead of time. I prefer alphonso mango pulp, which is easily available in Indian grocery stores.

Ingredients

2 cups - Low Fat Yogurt

½ cup - Low Fat Milk

½ cup - Water

1 cup - Crushed Ice

2 cups - Mango Pulp

4 pods - Cardamom Seeds crushed.

1 - Fresh Mango (optional)

Method
To enhance the flavor of mango and to make the taste brighter on the palate, we have added cardamom to this recipe.

Take about 4 pods of cardamom seeds. Put them in a mortar and crush them well with a pestle. Unlike when using cardamom in main dishes, here we do not add the shells of the pods, but only the seeds. 

Using a mortar and pestle gives the seeds a semi powder texture and a better flavor, as opposed to using a grinder.

Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix well. To serve you can either pour it straight into a glass and enjoy, or you can use some of the pulp to glaze the insides of the glass and then add the lassi, giving it a more exotic look.