drinking lassi - how does you tummy handles it?

Kabeer

but it does'nt mean that beverage is punjabi.It's known by diff. names throughout India,although,Lassi is widely used. Lassi of Varanasi,Pushkar,Delhi & amritsar are all unique & can't be compared generally,specificly..Yes they can be compared as in case of different single malts.
I'll advice lassi is the best possible non-alcoholic beverage that one can have in hot weather.For those who are in delhi,I will suggest old delhi is a better place to have a glass(Mud Glass)There is a shop called shyam sweets at barshbullah chowk,chawri bazar,must try their lassi.
What's good there is that it'll be without ice.They serve it refrigrated.
& Verona..Hindi of without Ice is: Bina Burf Ke

Kingstonian

It's a damp April morning in Kingston
and I dream of a land where the heat's in-
credibly fierce
and the thirst just gets worse
for chilled lassis like you're all suggestin'

brishti

gee: the computer geek writes poetry as well!!!


we meet on may 13th bb!
en garde



:brishti

MrsC_772

One of my sister's very well travelled friends reckoned it was the ice in the lassis which gave her Delhi belly last time she was in India, so I didn't have any when I was there in February.

What distinguishes a mango lassi from a mango yogurt smoothie?

I started making mango yogurt smoothies when presented with a large box of perfectly ripe honey mangoes by a Kashmiri friend, and was trying to work out what to do with them all before they went too squishy.

Mango, yogurt, pineapple juice and a little powdered cardamom - yum.

Greengrocers in Farnham had Indian Alfonso mangoes last week - double yum.

Must go out and buy more mangoes ...

Sorry - back to lassis in India - do they all have water in them even if they don't have ice? Or would I be safe asking for one barf nahi pani?

Somehow it seems appropriate that the phrase for no ice please (for fear of tummy upset) includes the word "barf".

sssall

A lassi is very watery so water isn't needed either. I've not tried these flavoured lassis. Have to try one day.

My mistake, 'pani' can have two meanings. 'Water' and 'to put in'.

In this case 'barf nahi pani' means do not put any ice in. Probably a better way to say it would be 'Bina Burf Ke' as KABEER said, this means 'without ice'.

ps: 'pani' only has two meanings when it is written in English. An Indian saying the words in Hindi or Punjabi would be able to tell the differece because the spellings are different.

MrsC_772

So what makes the lassi naturally watery? Is it a different kind of yogurt from the dahi served with meals? Is it the way the yogurt is beaten or strained?

sssall

Lassi is the end product once the makhan has been removed. Small amount of water is added during this process. The dahi you can buy in shops does not have a high makhan content. I will have to find a good link or information and get back to you.

Unless other IMers can explain in more detail.

karuna

I much prefer plain lassis to mango lassis. Sweet, that is- I don't dare try the salted. I did once have salted lime drink, by accident. DO NOT WANT.

Anyway, this is what I do.

1. Greek yoghurt
2. Some milk
3. Sugar
4. A blender
5. (optional) sliced, very ripe, dribbly mango

Apply all things above as appropriate and in varying quantities to taste (do not try altering the quantity of blender, however), and enjoy. Alter the creamy/wateriness with the ratio of yoghurt to milk.

Is that the same as your mango smoothy Mrs C?

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MrsC_772

Can't say a salty lassi appeals to me much either. I had a salty lime drink at Delhi airport, and definitely prefer the sweet.

I wouldn't put sugar in a smoothie, especially not if I was using a very ripe dribbly mango. One reason I like mango smoothies is because the tanginess of the yogurt nicely balances the almost overwhelming sweetness of a yellow skinned mango.

I tend to use a fruit juice as a "thinner" rather than milk in my smoothies, but I'll try your suggestion of using milk (effectively a yogurt milkshake).

Speaking of blenders, if you haven't see the website www.willitblend.com", it might provide a few minutes amusement.

Ssall - if lassi is what is left after the makhan (which I understood to mean butter, or presumably, butterfat) is removed, does that mean lassi is more like buttermilk than yogurt? Is it really fermented buttermilk, as opposed to yogurt (fermented milk)?

karuna

Yes, I suspect sugar is not needed if you're also adding mango. I think the milk thing would work with water too, but I was trying to duplicate the very creamy lassi I got in Jaipur.

PeakXV

Yoghurt must be a fairly 'loose' term for the ingredients and/or methods of creating. If I go to the grocery store near me and buy 5 different youghurt brands - they will all be quite different in taste & texture. Because of the smoothie craze and all the different fresh fruit, safe crushed ice (for added chill) & natural additive recipes available - lassis always have seemed extremely bland & unrefreshing to me.

MrsC: Aasiafood.org describes the difference betwee Sri Lankan/Indian Yoghurt and the higher butterfat content within:


Yoghurt in India and Sri Lanka is made mostly from buffalo milk which is much higher in butterfat (over 10 per cent) than cow's milk sold in Western supermarkets (around 4 per cent). The milk in these countries is generally pasteurised but not homogenised. Both of these factors result in a very thick yoghurt with a solid buttery layer of yellow cream on top.

To emulate Indian yoghurt, add one part cream (35 per cent butterfat) to three parts of whole milk and heat to blood heat, then stir in the yoghurt culture or 2 tablespoons commercial yoghurt mixed with a little of the warm milk. Leave undisturbed in a warm place (a vacuum flask works well) for about 6 hours or until firm, then refrigerate.



Read the full article here

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Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

sssall

Yes, reading up on buttermilk on Wiki, it seems the Punjabi/Haryana lassi is like buttermilk but lassi doesn't have the sour taste.

Nick-H

That thick creamy buffalo milk sounds wonderful.

Most of us city folk make do with cow's milk, pasterurised and homogenised. It makes just-fine curd (yoghurt) which makes just-fine lassi --- but, one of these days I'll find out some buffalo milk and pluck up the courage to try it!

I guess it shouldn't take too much courage, as it will be well-boiled before making the curd.

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Nick-H

When the curd is put in the mixie (processor) or even beaten, it looses its thickness. This might not happen so readily with the supermarket products, but it does with home-made. This is, essentially, how buttermilk is made from curd (Mrs N says a bit of water can be added).

When you buy buttermilk in small plastic packs here, it has chilli in it!

the opoponax

I thought I would hate salt lassi, buttermilk, etc. but then I discovered that I LOVE IT!

In fact, I turned my slightly-botched experiment with homemade yogurt into a lovely cumin-and-salt chaas type drink. Yum!

Regarding lassi and getting sick, though I think this has been covered in the preceeding 60 posts. I drank lassi anywhere and everywhere, including with ice a few times, at every consistency from milkshake-thick to the consistency of skim milk and never got sick. I'm definitely among the crowd who credit lots of curd and lassi with helping to acclimatize to Indian bacteria.