Corbin and I took a cooking class in the beautiful city of Udaipur. It was really more of an inspiring cooking show, as Rajni, a self-taught home cook, produced delicious masterpieces one after the other in her very compact home kitchen, with minimal assistance from either of us! I especially loved the little tips and tricks that Rajni shared with us, and started thinking of her as an Indian Auntie / Godmother of Indian Cooking. I was delighted when Rajni showed me how to make a proper lassi! I’d previously thought of the lassi as kind of a smoothie, but frozen mango chunks blended with yogurt, mango juice and ice (my previous shortcut version) isn’t quite the same. Rajni’s authentic version has a lovely subtle and sophisticated flavor thanks to the saffron and cardamom.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups plain fresh yogurt
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tsp sugar or to taste
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 pinch saffron
- 2 tsp finely chopped pistachios or cashews (optional)
- A few raisins or other small pieces of dried fruit (optional)
Instructions:
- Mix yogurt with water. Pour into a muslin or cheesecloth bag (or cheesecloth-lined colander) and leave to drain for 30 minutes*
- Grind saffron with a teaspoon of warm milk in a mortar and pestle or the back of a spoon in a bowl.
- Add sugar, milk, cardamom powder and saffron mixture to yogurt; mix well.
- Pour into glasses and chill. Sprinkle with nuts and raisins to garnish, if desired.
*You might be tempted to skip this step, but don’t! It’s important to remove the sour taste. Save the whey for another use; I use it instead of water as a base for vegan soups.
Chasing Chicharrones 