Wayback Machine: Oh, My Sweet Lassi

Sweet readers, we're taking the week off to catch up on some real-life work. In the meantime, we're re-posting some of our favorite recipes and essays. This one is from November 2007. Enjoy!

In the two years following college, I lived semi-large with three ladyfriends in a medium-sized Brooklyn apartment. We had starter jobs, very little money, and an unnatural obsession with singing Jock Jams in Ross Perot voices. (Try it! It's fun.) We were also not very interested in cooking, except for K.

Born in upstate New York, K was the only one who actually used our pots and pans. She bought things like “produce,” and “dairy products.” A few times, she whipped up this Saltine-butter-chocolate dessert that I can’t even think of without salivating all over my desk. (Seriously, Saltines? Who knew they didn’t have to taste like drywall?) One of her favorite concoctions, which I had never heard of at the time, and now order/make at every opportunity, was the lassi.

Essentially a thick Indian yogurt drink, lassis are intended to calm taste buds during a spicy meal. But, much like its fruity cousin the mango lassi, the sweet lassi is also delicious on its own.

While there were a bazillion options online, the recipe attached below is adapted from the Whole Foods website. It seemed simple enough, and turned out well. Only changes: I used low-fat yogurt and cut out the rosewater, since, uh, I don’t know what it is or where to find it. (I will rectify this situation for next time.)

Nowadays, K is married to a wonderfully awesome dude, who I am sure is benefiting from her years of experience and experiments. I wish I had appreciated it more when we were roomies. (Besides the Saltine thing. I appreciated that constantly.)

P.S. Just to clarify - this is NOT a milkshake. It is a yogurt drink. If you do not like yogurt, you will vomit profusely.

Sweet Lassi
Serves 2 (12 oz each) or 3 (8 oz each)
Adapted from Whole Foods.

2 cups plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup cold water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 ice cubes

1) Blend yogurt, water, sugar, and cardamom together until smooth. Add ice cubes and blend again, until mixture is smooth. Serve cold.

Approximate Calories, Fat, and Price per Serving
2 servings: 248 calories, 3.8 g fat, $0.65
3 servings: 165 calories, 2.5 g fat, $0.43

Calculations
2 cups plain lowfat yogurt: 309 calories, 7.6 g fat, $1.15
1/2 cup cold water: negligible fat and calories, $0.00
1/4 cup sugar: 186 calories, 0 g fat, $0.06
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom: negligible fat and calories, $0.08
6 ice cubes: negligible fat and calories, $0.00
TOTAL: 495 calories, 7.6 g fat, $1.29
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 248 calories, 3.8 g fat, $0.65
PER SERVING (TOTAL/3): 165 calories, 2.5 g fat, $0.43