Yes! Spring is here, and so are mangoes. They got here early. About a month ago. They are so good already that we can’t stop ourselves from having them everyday. My toddler has a fruit obsession that changes every two or three months, and right now it’s mango. So I almost have to buy truckloads. We’ll miss guavas and tangerines, but mangoes are definitely helping with this temporary parting.
One of my favorite drinks when the heat starts to go up is mango lassi. Lassi is a traditional indian drink made with yoghurt, salt and spices. And mango lassi is one of it’s sweet variants. It is so refreshing, sweet and tart.
I love tart flavors, and to make my mango lassi even more tart, I use a goat milk yoghurt that I’m crazy about. It is produced by a goat farmer from the town where I live, so it’s local!
Goat milk yoghurt made by local farmer Maria Esther Mejia
Since I started studying Integrative Nutrition I have been trying to buy and eat more local. Right now, I am also taking a course on the New Nordic Diet by the University of Copenhagen and so far I am mind blown by what the danish have done with their eating habits and matters in the last years. This new nordic diet is based on the principles of health, gastronomic potential, Nordic identity and sustainability, meaning all their ingredients are local, seasonal and healthy. So now I feel even more inspired to try local stuff and leave out non-local, industrial and commercial products. I would love it if Mexico could do something similar to what Denmark is doing. A new Mexican diet: local, traditional, wise, sustainable and healthy. I wouldn’t say “natural” cause lately it’s a term used in the most ambiguous and tricky ways.
Anyway, mango lassi is not a traditional drink in Mexico, but it is healthy, tasty, and we are, after all, one of the biggest mango producers of the world. And besides the local goat yoghurt, I also added a wonderful, healthy, totally mexican ingredient to my lassi: amaranth.
Here is the recipe:
Mango Lassi
serves 2
1 cup diced mango
1 cup goat yoghurt (When I’m out of yoghurt I use homemade raw milk kefir)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup amaranth
1/2 to 1 teaspoon powdered cardamom
pinch of sea salt
chopped pistachios (soaked)
Soak pistachios for about 15 minutes and rinse. Combine all ingredients (except pistachios) in a blender and blend until smooth. Serve and top with pistachios.
What are you drinking to beat the heat?
omnivorilicious 