What a way to cool off! For as long as I can remember, sweet lassi has always been a staple in our household. Typically, I like to use an extra tangy yogurt, blend it together with lots of ice cubes, a generous pouring of sugar, and some milk to thin it out a smidge. Throw it all in a high-power blender until you’re left with something that’s a milky slushie-like consistency. I may not be doing a good job selling it there, especially if you aren’t a fan of milk or dahi (yogurt) in general. Think of it as a mango milkshake or smoothie but with a yogurt base instead of ice cream or heavy cream. I hope that sounds a lot better. And if you’ve never tasted mango lassi at an Indian restaurant, it’s definitely something to try out. It’s the perfect way to balance out all of the spices that are typically used in Indian dishes. In the past, I’ve shared my strawberry lassi recipe with you in hopes of introducing a new fruit to the mix. But honestly, they’ve been doing it this way for generations in India, Pakistan, and across the Indian subcontinent for a reason. Mangoes are meant to be blended with yogurt and made into a creamy and sweet mango lassi.
Ingredients for my Mango Lassi recipe
Mangoes: You can use frozen mangoes or fresh mangoes for this recipe. Before sure to peel the mangoes if you prefer to use fresh. Champagne, Alphonso, or Kesar mangoes are the ones that I typically suggest using. You want to use ripe mangoes if possible as this way you’ll need to use sweetener in the recipe. I suggest using high-quality frozen mangoes, if possible. Your lassi just won’t be as creamy if you use low-quality frozen mangoes.Milk: I like to use 2% or whole milk to make this recipe. If you want to make vegan lassi, I suggest swapping the dairy milk for almond milk, cashew milk, or something similar.Mango Pulp: Canned mango pulp or mango puree is easily available in most Indian and Pakistani stores. These days, you might even be able to find it in the international aisle of your mainstream grocery store – I definitely was! I know not everyone will be able to find mango pulp so you can replace it with a scoop or two of mango sorbet. Keep in mind that if you use sorbet, you’ll want to play around with the amount of sweetener you add to the recipe to ensure the lassi doesn’t become overly sweet.Kosher Salt: I prefer to use just a pinch. The sodium helps balance the sweeter ingredients in this recipe.Plain Whole Milk Yogurt: Sometimes also called curd. The tartness of the lassi will heavily depend on how sweet the yogurt you use is. And by that, I mean that as yogurt sits in the fridge, it tends to become more tart. Freshly purchased yogurt will have less of a tang, while opened cartons of yogurt that have had a week to sit in the fridge, will have a tangier flavor. I prefer to use plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt for my mango lassi recipe. I find that Greek yogurt sometimes doesn’t allow the mango lassi to get as smooth. Low-fat yogurt will also work, but I do find that the lassi isn’t as creamy or luscious when I use low-fat. I think it’s okay to use coconut yogurt to make a vegan mango lassi recipe if you’d like.Sugar: I prefer cane sugar as my sweetener of choice. But honey, agave, or simple syrup would also work here. Feel free to skip this entirely if you think the mangos and mango pulp will make this sweet enough for you!Add-ins: Depending on the flavor of mango lassi you prefer, you can always add a couple of saffron strands, a pinch of cardamom, some lime zest, shredded coconut, some mint leaves, or even some rosewater. How you flavor your mango lassi is entirely up to you!
How to make creamy mango lassi
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Fresh mangoes: If you use fresh mangoes, you can throw everything into the blender at once, no need to do it in two steps. You’ll still want to use 1 ¼ cups of fresh mangoes for this recipe. Additionally, you’ll need ½-¾ cup of ice to give the lassi the texture we’re going for.Mango pulp: if you’re having trouble finding mango pulp, I suggest replacing it with equal parts store-bought mango sorbet. Talenti brand makes one that would work beautifully. I also suggest adding a pinch of saffron if you have access to it. This should mimic the mango pulp pretty closely. Keep in mind that both the pulp and mango sorbet contain sugar, so if you typically prefer drinks that are less sweet, I suggest using 1 tablespoon of sugar and adjusting at the end as necessary.Variations: there are plenty of additions you can make to play with the flavor of mango lassi! Feel free to add in some lime zest, shredded or desiccated coconut, mint leaves, or even saffron or rosewater to give it a unique twist.Decorate: Feel free to squeeze mango pulp from a squeeze bottle into each cup before pouring the mango lassi to give it a restaurant-style look!
