Have you ever heard of a Mango Lassi? It’s a popular Indian drink, and it tastes fabulous!
There’s nothing like sipping a cool, refreshing drink on a hot summer day! And let me tell you, this Mango Lassi is quickly reaching the top of my list for go-to refreshment.
I first had one a few months ago when I went to a local Indian Restaurant, and with the first sip was seriously like, where have you been all my life?
Since then I’ve perused a lot of different variations. Now, being a drink from India, it would tend to gravitate towards ingredients over there, such as their curd/yogurt. Well, guess what? In my neck of the woods it is incredibly difficult to find. So yes, we have to compromise. But I’m quite the fan of using plain yogurt that you can basically find in any grocery store. The one difference is that Indian yogurt tends to be a lot thinner than the stuff we find on mainstream grocery shelves. So I added a decent amount of milk (and a little cream) to the mix to make up for that. When I don’t have any plain yogurt on hand, I always seem to have vanilla yogurt (my kids basically inhale the stuff). So that works, too. You’ll just want to adjust or completely eliminate the added sweetener if you use vanilla.
And now onto that mentioned sweetener. This is a very flexible addition to your lassi, and it needs to be. It all depends on the ripeness and sweetness of your mangoes. You can go honey or sugar. I always start out with less, and then add more as needed to get the sweetness factor to where I like it. It’s nice to have a good balance here because if you get too much sweetness, it kind of takes away from the other flavors, so you can’t fully appreciate it.
Next, the cardamom. It’s ever so subtle, but gives the lassi just a little something to excite the taste buds. So hard to explain if you’ve never tasted cardamom before. But you’ll need to here!
Lastly, the ice. There can be mixed opinions here of whether this is suitable, but I am 100% behind the idea of serving this over ice. The cold shock that it gives the lassi is just amazing and refreshing.
And you may just be wondering, why the blueberries in the photo? I don’t see them on the ingredient list……Well, it’s just really because I like blueberries and I thought that they added a nice contrasting color to the photos. And I’m sure you could just throw a couple on your drink for garnishment, right?
I love this drink! And my kids do, too! And I actually feel good giving it to them since it has generally healthy ingredients. Give it a try, friends!
Mango Lassi (aka Mango Smoothie)
Ingredients
- 3 cups mango approximately 3 mangoes, cubed
- 2 cups plain yogurt
- 6-8 tablespoons honey or granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- ice to serve
Instructions
-
Place all ingredients in a blender as listed above.
-
Blend until smooth.
-
Serve over ice sprinkled with a little cardamom for garnish.
Recipe Notes
Change It Up:
How much honey/sugar? It really depends on how ripe and sweet your mangoes are. You don't want it to be overly sweet where you can't appreciate all of the flavors. Start with less and adjust up as desired.
If you don't have plain yogurt, substitute vanilla yogurt and cut your honey/sugar down to 2-3 tablespoons (or eliminate completely).
Substitute strawberries for the mango.
Dress it Down:
Eliminate the cardamom for a simpler smoothie drink.
Eliminate the heavy cream. You can add a little extra milk, if desired.
Eliminate the ice for a thicker finish.
Latest posts by Food Apparel (see all)
- How to Host a Hot Chocolate Bar - December 5, 2017
- Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili Recipe - September 23, 2017
- The Underground Culinary Tour: A Must Read for Budding Restauranteurs - January 31, 2017
Whatdayathink? Let us know.....