Simple Mango Lassi

I have a dilemma.

Most of you lovely people, my followers, are from Egypt (where I come from) and the US. This means that everything that is in season here in Australia where I currently live is NOT in season on your side of the world, which in turn means that a lot of the recipes I post will be somewhat irrelevant to you at the time I post them. Not all of them , but definitely some of them. The other option would be for me to shoot these recipes and write them up but wait several months before posting them, until the ingredients I am using are in season on the other side of the world.

I don’t know why, but I feel as if I’d be somewhat of a fraud if I choose option number B. It just doesn’t feel right to me to hoard recipes for months and post things that are irrelevant to what I am eating/cooking at the time. Is that terribly selfish of me?

I’m going to pretend you all just said “of course not!”

Ok then, it’s settled!

I do realise that most of you reading this are in the height of winter at the moment and are freezing your asses off and craving hot chocolate, but you guys it is SCORCHING hot down here! I just got sunburnt last weekend. Go on, hate me. I’ll be the one hating in a few months when the tables have turned.

Sorry to do this to you but, I hereby give you my recipe for Mango Lassi. Mangoes are everywhere at the moment, and I had to make use of the abundance of cheap, juicy and fragrant specimens all around me. I just HAD to.

The first time I tried this heavenly drink was, funnily enough, in Germany. My husband and I were there because of my illness, which was at its worst back then. I was there to get a proper check-up and we were staying with my husband’s cousin (who is a doctor) and his family in a little town near Switzerland. Under these dreadful conditions, you would expect a trip like this to be an absolute nightmare, right? Well, the medical part sucked for sure, but the most magical thing happened.

Amr & Ghada (the cousin and his lovely wife), and their three little kids, somehow managed to make this one of the most enjoyable and comfortable trips of my whole life. I honestly have no clue how they did it. Never in my life have I come across people as wonderful as them. They took care of us and pampered us and reassured us in every way possible. Amr personally accompanied us to all my medical appointments, Ghada let me sleep as much as I needed, we cooked together, they took us out whenever we were up for it and just simply made us feel at home. I have to say that I felt more comfortable and at ease with them than I was with my own family (sorry mom!), and they will always hold a special spot in my heart.

One of the places they took us out to for dinner was a fantastic cosy little Indian Restaurant. After we ordered the food, I was slightly worried what all the spices would do to my hopelessly damaged insides…so Ghada suggested that I should order the Mango Lassi. I had never heard of it before, and so she explained that it was yoghurt-based, which is why it is traditionally served alongside curries to help cool down the effect of all the spices. I fell in love at first sip.

There is nothing fancy about it; it is simply yoghurt, ripe mango and an optional dash of cardamom and extra sweetener. The result is this marvellously creamy, tangy, sweet and gloriously aromatic drink that is the perfect way to cool down on a hot day, or even have as a quick breakfast.

I always think of Ghada & Amr when I make/have it, and it always puts a huge smile on my face.