Tuesday, November 14, 2006

What? No Mango Lassi

If you ask Americans who like/love eating Indian food, one refreshment they seem to universally love is mango lassi (lassi is pronounced like "hussy"). This is basically pureed mangos and yogurt. It's nice. It's sweet. (Although lassis can be made salty).

But you know what? Can't seem to find mango lassis in India. Most lassis are made from buttermilk, at least, it seems that way. Mostly, I use buttermilk to cook, not so much to drink. And I'm used to mango lassis.

When I asked about it, I was told "mangoes aren't in season now". I realize that people in the US don't think about foods being in or out of season. Somehow they manage to grow stuff year round, or preserve it enough, or something. Or maybe they used the canned stuff when making the drink.

On the other hand, most items in an Indian menu do look like dishes I've seen before, even down to the variety of breads you can get (rotis, chapatis, naans), which makes me think that Indian restaurants, outside the lack of heat, is reasonably close to what you get in India, at least, in terms of what is served.

The food that I had, for the most part, wasn't fiery hot, but it was hot. The hot and sour soup, for that reason, was pretty good in India.

Anyhoo, I'm looking forward to mango lassis next time I go to an Indian restaurant.

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