When my mom turned vegetarian, one of the ways she maneuvered into getting me to like vegetarian cooking was to encourage me to take vegetarian cooking classes. I never disliked cooking, yet it was something done in my house to appease your hunger, not something we had a passion for.
I learned to make whole grain rice, textured soy protein, some sort of potato pastelón, a basic cake recipe without using eggs and as a beverage I remember extra clearly, Mango Lassi. I remember expressly because I had never mixed mango with yogurt before and it tasted DIVINE!!!
Maybe the divine part was because Lassi comes from India – the land of deities and divinity. It’s traditionally made with mangoes, which are plentiful in India, but it can certainly be made with any other fruit. Lassi is nothing more than a fruit shake made with yogurt and ice. I read there are versions with rosewater, pistachios, and other spices. The funny thing is that I went to India 4 years ago; I never had a lassi – plenty of mango juice, but no lassi.
My version of lassi is simple and very refreshing. What I like about lassis is they’re great to prepare the digestive system to receive food. It very well is the active cultures in the yogurt, or that it’s a way to consume fruits BEFORE food instead of as a dessert. But no matter the reason, they’re just delicious any time of day, particularly in the summer heat.
MANGO LASSI
1 mango, peeled and diced 1 cup of plain yogurt 2 tbs agave nectar 3-4 ice cubes ¼ cup of water, to thin out the mixture if it’s too thick for the blender to process
- Mix all the ingredients in a blender. Blend it at the highest speed for about 1-2 minutes to make sure the mango fibers are broken very well.
Enjoy as an appetizer, as a snack or as a great breakfast shake.
KarmaFree Cooking 