Three-Ingredient Alphonso Mango Lassi

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The mango lassi you get at a good Indian restaurant tastes like fruit, not milkshake — thick, cold, faintly tangy, and impossibly fragrant. The trick isn't technique, it's the mango: canned Alphonso pulp, picked at ripeness and never watery, beats whatever hard supermarket mango you were about to cube up. Blend it with full-fat yogurt (low-fat turns thin and sour) and a splash of cold whole milk, and you have a drink in ninety seconds that most kitchens charge twelve dollars for.

Ingredients

• 1 cup canned Alphonso mango pulp, chilled
• 1 cup full-fat plain whole-milk yogurt, cold
• 1/3 cup cold whole milk, plus more to thin
• 1 to 2 tsp sugar, only if needed
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 4 ice cubes (optional, for a thinner drink)

• 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 tbsp pistachios, finely chopped
• saffron threads, a few

• 2 large very ripe Ataulfo or Honey mangoes (about 1 1/2 cups flesh)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp lime juice

Instructions

1. Chill everything first. Put the can of mango pulp and the yogurt in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before blending — a cold lassi needs no ice, and ice is what waters the flavor down. If you're short on time, chill the opened pulp in a bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.
2. If using canned Alphonso pulp: open the can, stir it well (the thick fruit settles at the bottom), and measure 1 cup into the blender. Most canned Alphonso pulp is already lightly sweetened, so hold off on sugar entirely until you taste.
3. If using fresh mango: peel and cube 2 very ripe Ataulfo or Honey mangoes to get about 1 1/2 cups flesh, then blend with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 teaspoon lime juice for 45 seconds until completely smooth and slightly loosened. Fresh mango is fibrous and less perfumed, so this purée step matters — pass it through a fine-mesh sieve if your blender leaves any strings.
4. Add the cold yogurt, 1/3 cup cold milk, and a pinch of salt to the blender with the mango. Use whole-milk yogurt, full stop: the fat is what gives a lassi its round, coating body instead of a thin, aggressively sour drink.
5. Blend on medium speed for 30 to 45 seconds, just until uniform and slightly frothy. Don't run it longer — extended blending warms the yogurt and can break it into a looser, grainier texture.
6. Taste. It should be fruit-forward with a clean tang at the back. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar only if your mango was underripe or your yogurt very sharp, and pulse 5 seconds to dissolve. If you want it thinner and more drinkable, blend in cold milk 2 tablespoons at a time, or add 4 ice cubes and blend 15 seconds more.
7. For a restaurant-style version, add the ground cardamom now and pulse twice — start with 1/8 teaspoon, it goes soapy fast. Rose water, if using, goes in at 1 teaspoon maximum.
8. Pour into two tall chilled glasses. Top with chopped pistachios and a few saffron threads crushed between your fingers. Serve immediately; a lassi held more than 30 minutes separates and needs a hard stir to come back.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

Char-Grilled Oysters with Garlic-Worcestershire Butter

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem