Fruit Lassi ~ Strawberry Lassi

Plain lassis are good old goodies, but infusing them with various fruits has always been one my exciting jobs. Besides I have never been a good girl enough to eat plain chopped up fruits. So when I remembered that the frozen strawberries are freezing in my refrigerator for a long time...suddenly breezing through the colourful pictures of Varanasi I decided to make a lassi aka the Varanasi style. So I got my frozen strawberries, threw them into the blender with some yogurt, sugar, rose water and oh...yes...cardamom ( they are a staple in any Indian kitchen) and blended till frothy and smooth. They came out thick, creamy and blissfully calm.

As for calmness, it reminded me of the thick and rich lassis of Varanasi, which are thicker than the regular lassis and are served in small, medium or large earthen pots. Then a wooden flat spoon in pushed into it and it is then smothered with slivered pistachios, malai / rabri / crème and fruit puree respective to the lassi’s flavour.

Note: All the images captioned "Varanasi Lassi" are not mine. The image source is given at the end of the article.

 

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

Varanasi Lassi

To me, Varanasi, the eminent religious city of Uttar Pradesh is the city of colour. I would love to visit Varanasi and stay there for a month or two and would try to soak up all the colours and vividness from the Ganges Ghat, the Shiva Temples, colourful small boats and the evening artis. An ethereal concoction of ancient India’s retrospective anecdote.

Strawberry Lassi ~ Fruit Lassi

Makes 2 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of thick chilled yogurt – Use full fat and thick Greek yogurt to get tasty and smooth lassi (If the yogurt is not cold add in some ice cubes just before serving. If you add ice cubed long before serving then the ice will melt and make the lassi thinner.)

¼ cup of water

½ cup of fresh / frozen strawberries

Sugar – as required

½ tsp cardamom powder

1 tsp rose water

1 tbsp thick crème / malai / rabri

1 tbsp chopped pistachio

Method:

In a blender put the thick yogurt, water, sugar, cardamom powder and rose water.

Blend until the yogurt is super smooth and frothy. Remember the more you blend the smoother your lassi will be.

Once you are satisfied with the smoothness and the froth, pour the lassi in a glass.

Top with the crème / malai / rabri and chopped pistachio.

Serve immediately.

Image Sources : 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7