[iwanttogoback]

i've added lassi to my daily diet, using a recipe from deepak chopra, but i'd be really interested in other lassi recipes that members might care to share.

the chopra recipe is:

1/4 tsp cardarmon
pinch of saffron threads
three tblsp hot water

blend these ingredients for ten seconds.

add

2 cups plain yoghurt
2 cups cold water
2 tblsp sugar

and blend until smooth.

makes four servings.

[WonderWomanUSA]

When I first was in India, I stayed at a (long-gone) Buddhist mission near Mehrauli village outside Delhi -- it's now a prosperous suburb, I'm told, but then it was a walk over the irrigated fields and surrounded by ruins.

On the way into town, that first day, we stopped at a fruit seller and my friend bought a couple of small bananas that were so ripe and squishy we had to hold them with newspaper.

Stopping at  a little hole in the wall, my friend handed the bananas to the man and said "do lassi," The fellow used one of those hand-powered wooden whirly things and mixed up the best drink I'd ever had.

[Shashank]

its very difficult to give a recipe of 'great lassi', it is solely dependent on the quality of Dahi (curd) that is available in the area. So lassi in Vrindavan is better than in Punjab, and the one in Punjab is better than entire world

All these recipes apart, the 'real' lassi only has curd, sweetener (sugar) and some water...any fourth ingredient is additional flavor.

Edited by Shashank, 23 August 2008 - 11:38 PM.

[jyotirmoy]

Come April & we replace milk with lassi for breakfast. The curd is prepared fresh everyday. We also add Rooh Afza an organic herbal syrup which has cooling properties.

[iwanttogoback]

what do you guys mean by curd?

[cyberhippie]

As far as I can make out curd in Indian usage is just Youghurt, it's certainly the not the constuent part opf milk we break dow whilst making cheese.

My fav is still in Bundi, Curd, Honey, Cream, lemon, Raison, nut, cardemon and sugar. Tastes like a lemon curd drink (did lemon curd come from India)

[iwanttogoback]

Quote

All these recipes apart, the 'real' lassi only has curd, sweetener (sugar) and some water...any fourth ingredient is additional flavor.

so, what's your favourite flavourings? and what proportions of water and curd/yoghurt do you prefer? i'm finding the recipe i'm using too thin and i'm going to use less water for the next batch so i get a creamier lassi.

[noflylist]

Depending on thickness desired you can adjust the amount of water. Indians make fresh curd daily and that makes a difference. My recipe 50% water sugar to taste, mix it with mixer, chill it for hour.

Honey sounds an intersting idea, I will try it.

Edited by retiredflylist, 25 August 2008 - 06:26 AM.

[SHIMLA]

iwanttogoback, on Aug 24 2008, 11:40 AM, said:

what do you guys mean by curd?

To quote a well known Sardarji joke, curd is "Milk sleeping in the night; by morning gets tight !!"

[priya]

Yoghurt has a bacterial culture.  Curds, as far as I know, is milk soured and thickened by adding lemon juice, vinegar or some other souring agent.  I've used both and both are delicious.

My favourite lassi has only honey added.

[iwanttogoback]

i've been using yoghurt and it's fine, especially now i've made it thicker.

how do you sour the milk? i guess i could just look at it for a while

[jyotirmoy]

priya, on Aug 26 2008, 10:28 AM, said:

Yoghurt has a bacterial culture.  Curds, as far as I know, is milk soured and thickened by adding lemon juice, vinegar or some other souring agent.  I've used both and both are delicious.

My favourite lassi has only honey added.

No... curd is what you call yoghurt and it is a bacterial culture... we add a teaspoon of today's curd to warm milk to make tomorrow's curd, it  had been going on like this.
Adding acid to milk like lemon juice to boiling milk you make paneer.

[cyberhippie]

Ingredients and technique aside, by far my favourite lassie would be my lovely wife  

[Haylo]

jyotirmoy, on Aug 26 2008, 05:36 PM, said:

Adding acid to milk like lemon juice to boiling milk you make paneer.

I did wonder how you made a drink out of that!

Lassi sounds delicious, I especially like the idea of cyberhippie's "lemon curd" drink. Is really good lemon curd available in India by the way? If not, I might bring some with me next time.

The cooling Rooh Afza syrup sounds most interesting, does it have a flavour and is it widely available?

[Hyderabadi]

Haylo, on Aug 26 2008, 03:00 PM, said:

The cooling Rooh Afza syrup sounds most interesting, does it have a flavour and is it widely available?

It's difficult to describe the flavor. It's great on a hot summer day. You can also pour some on shaved ice made into a lump - Ice Gola.

Quote

Rooh Afza (Urdu: روح افزہ, Hindi: रूह अफ़ज़ा) is a popular concentrated sharbat invented by Hakeem Abdul Majeed and manufactured by the companies he founded, Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, India and Hamdard (Wakf) Laboratories, Pakistan, since 1907. The inventor never explained his choice of the name Rooh Afza, English speakers often refer to it as 'rose syrup'. It is a natural cold drink and a blend of pure crystalline sugar, distilled extracts of citrus flowers, aquas of fruits, vegetables and cooling herbal ingredients processed to impart its taste

More from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rooh_Afza

I've seen it at all Indian stores here in the US.

Ice Gola

[Haylo]

Hyderabadi, on Aug 26 2008, 08:14 PM, said:

It's great on a hot summer day.

Then I'd better get back to Delhi before the weather breaks.
Then again, what's the rush. Coming from England, I have a slightly different definition of "a hot summer day".

Joking apart, that has now been added to my list of things to try.

[Shashank]

Roohafza is primarily rose flavor and smell. Quite good for Lassi, Milk Shakes, Sharbat etc..

[priya]

jyotirmoy, on Aug 26 2008, 06:36 PM, said:

No... curd is what you call yoghurt and it is a bacterial culture... we add a teaspoon of today's curd to warm milk to make tomorrow's curd, it  had been going on like this.
Adding acid to milk like lemon juice to boiling milk you make paneer.

The milk we occasionally manage to buy here has NO cream at all and is probably watered down.  I don't boil the milk, I scald it, wait for it to cool down to blood temperature and add the lemon juice and then whisk.  When I'm able to buy farm milk, I would add store-bought yoghurt to it as the initial starter.

[vandy]

Hi IWTGB,

The best Yoghurt here in Perth for making Lassi is the Brownes Plain Traditional Style Yoghurt.

We usually buy the Large container, 1 litre.

Simple recipe is;

3 quarter glass of youghurt
1 quarter milk or water
1-2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Pinch Cardamom Powder.
Stirr Well and put in Freezer for 10 mins.

For Mango Lassi, same as above, but add Tablespoon of  Mango Pulp, you can also use Tinned Mango Pieces with Juice and you  will need to put in Blender, may not need to add sugar if using Sweetened Tinned Mangoes as juice is sweet.

1 Large container of Yoghurt and 2 normal size tins of Sliced Mango pieces in Syrup(juice) in Blender will make approx
8 - 10 Large glasses of lassi. The juice from mango tins usually replaces need for Milk,Water & Sugar.

I still use fresh ground cardamom powder which I believe is Best, Seeds from cardamom pods,ground in Pistle & Mortar.

A Jug of Mango Lassi kept in the fridge is allways handy, especially in Summertime.

vandy  

Edited by vandy, 28 August 2008 - 01:08 PM.

[iwanttogoback]

i usually use browne's yoghurt, and i think i'm going to start adding fruit. mango sounds like the ideal one to start with.