Mango Lassi- making summer tolerable!

The only thing that makes a hot sticky, unbearable summer tolerable, in India ( or for that matter, here in Dallas, for me) is the Mango. A  mango crate, the ripe color of the sun, the setting sun, makes it feel cooler, already! 
If you are a mango devotee, like I am, you would want to eat THE fruit in every possible way. In it's raw stage, I like to make it into a spectacular chutney or a tasty mouth puckering sour-spicy pickle and last but not the very least Panha. 

In school, many of you reading this part will nod in agreement, we had this bhaiyya with his bushel full of  raw mango, berries , starfruit, tamarind and a plastic bag full of cayenne and salt. As per our order, he'd cut the starfruit or raw mango in wedges and sprinkle the cayenne-salt over it and hand it to us thru the school gates in to our eager hands! 

Mouths watering , we would enjoy these treats sitting on the steps of the school or perhaps under the tree. 

The ripe mango can be pureed and added into shrikhand to make Amrakhand which is ambrosia with a puffy poori! Or just cut wedges of the ripe Alphonso mango and eat them, just as, pure heaven!  

The one way my mother could shove milk down my throat was making Mango milkshake, bung mango pieces and a cup of cold milk in the blender, give it a whizz, pour into a tall grass and drink up. It was the only time I did not say No to drinking milk! 

Moving on to what I have for you today, is the famous Mango Lassi ! Nobody doesn't like love mango Lassi! 

Whoever thought of combining yogurt and mango was brilliant! 

There is no recipe folks, just a matter of absently putting things into the blender and blending, taste, adjust sweetness to your liking, give it a whizz if you make changes and then just pour yourself a tall glass of bliss, sit in your favorite chair or where you like and sip! 

For those who still need guidelines, here is what you do,

Pick a ripe and big mango. Alphonso, being the BEST variety, but here I make do with Atulfo variety. 

The best fruit is a big plump mango, with a deep rich, mango-ey color ( sorry, how else can I describe it!?!)

Give it a good sniff, the heady aroma of mango should waft, that's it! That's the fruit you want!

Alternatively, you can use canned mango pulp, use about 6 oz when making  this lassi.

Choose the yogurt. It MUST be Plain. 

You don't want sour yogurt.

Low fat, no fat yogurt is okay. But, Plain.

You need 1/2 cup of Yogurt

2-3 Ice cubes

2tsp sugar, optional, if the mango is really , really sweet, you won't need this ( adjust it to how sweet you want the lassi to be)

Peel and chop the mango, do not use the seed. Reserve some chopped mango pieces to garnish.

Place the mango, yogurt, ice cubes and sugar in the blender and blend until smooth.

This will make a thick, spoonable lassi, if you want., thin it out with some water. 

Do a taste test, if everything is just as you like it, pour into a tall glass, add the chopped mango pieces on top  and drink up! 

If you want some more sugar, add it, blend it and then pour it into a glass, enjoy! 

Optional: 

You can add a pinch of cardamom powder when blending.

You can add a few strands of Saffron to give the lassi another dimension (soak the strands in some warm water, for about 10 mins. and add when blending)

You can use Chopped almonds and pistachios to garnish the lassi.

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