Lunch Matters

This morning’s paper reminded me of a mango lassi. No, it wasn’t golden in color and it contained no yogurt. What it did have was a recipe for a raspberry lassi. I am trying to decide whether anyone should want any lassi other than a mango one. It just seems wrong somehow.

I have a general idea of what is in a mango lassi besides the obvious. But if I wanted to make a traditional Indian one, I needed a recipe. Who knew that there were that many variations on a mango lassi.

Cow’s milk or coconut milk? Ice cubes or water? Honey or sugar? Ginger or cardamon?

I decided to take the simple approach: mango, yogurt, cardamon, and ice. Puree the mango and yogurt, add the cardamon, and then add the ice and blend until frothy.

Do they really have to tell people to peel the mango and remove the enormous seed? The image of someone trying to puree the seed is just beyond my comprehension. When I picked up my favorite knife to free the mango pulp from the seed, I remembered a dear friend asking me how you do “peel” a mango after regaling me with her description of her first experience “peeling” a mango. Let’s just say it was fraught with difficulty.

For those you have never handled a mango, here are some tips. My weapon of choice is a boning knife. Place the mango on its end, holding it upright, slice as close to the seed as you can, repeat on the other side of the seed. Then peel (actually) the rind from the seed.

If this went well and there is no blood dripping over the mango, you should have two halves still in the skin. Take your knife and score each half lengthwise and crosswise without cutting through the skin, resulting in cubes still attached to the skin. My favorite tool for removing the cubed mango pieces is a grapefruit spoon. This permits me to free them from the skin and scoop them into a bowl.

Now this is a very important step. Lean over the sink and use your teeth to remove the succulent flesh from the seed. Yes, you could also slice it off but this is the reward for successfully “peeling” a mango.

By the time I decided what variation I was going to make, I was too hungry. Besides if I made a lassi, I would have to clean the blender. So instead I combined the mango pieces with yogurt made by My Sweetie, and seasoned it with cardamon. Yummy!

Next time I might have to try this recipe: Mango Margarita