Yogurt Drinks of the Indian Subcontinent, Part 1 of 4
A "lassi" * is a yogurt based drink of the Indian Subcontinent, seemingly developed in the Punjab region, a region of northern India and eastern Pakistan, but the drink spread to other parts of the subcontinent. The hot climate is ideal for these refreshing drinks, which often have ice cubes added to chill them well. There are several varieties, with the most basic being "Salted Lassi." The lassi goes well back in history, as long ago as 500 to 1000 BC, or perhaps even longer. Today, blenders or stick blenders are often used to give a lassi some froth. I'm going to do this as a multi-part article, with a couple of different recipes in each part. Besides being good, and being good for you, lassis are easy to make. There is also the use of yogurt based buttermilk on the Indian subcontinent, with "neer mor" being a spiced buttermilk drink of southern India, with "Chaas" being the term used more in the north, including in Pakistan and as "ghol" in the Bengali region of India and Bangladesh.
Salt(ed) Lassi-3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek), 1/4 cup cold water, 1/3 teaspoon salt, a good pinch of ground cumin. Ice cubes for serving. Put the yogurt, the water, the salt and the cumin into a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. There should be a nice foam topping. Pour over ice cubes in a glass.
* Usually pronounced in English like the name of the famous dog, "Lassie," but in Hindi and Urdu, it has a short "a," as in "father," and emphasis is on the second part of the word, as if, "lah-SEE." Hindi and Urdu are Indo European languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. They are related to English, but further down the family tree.
Saffron Lassi: This is a much richer drink: 3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek style), 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, a good pinch of saffron strands soaked in two tablespoons of warm milk, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 or 2 tablespoons heavy cream, tablespoon crushed pistachios, 3 or 4 raisins, couple of ice cubes. Add the yogurt, milk, cardamom, saffron milk, honey and salt to a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. Pour over a couple of ice cubes in a glass. Add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream on top, then sprinkle on the pistachios and raisins.
WORD HISTORY:
Pistachio-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it goes back to transliterated Persian "pisteh," which was the name for the nut and for the tree. This was borrowed by Greek as transliterated "pistakion" ("pistake" for the tree), which was borrowed by Latin as "pistacium" ("pistachio nut"), which was passed onto Italian as "pistacchio," which was borrowed by French from Italian as "pistace," in the 1300s. English borrowed the word from French circa 1500, but then about one hundred years later English borrowed the Italian form, with the minor spelling adjustment to "pistachio," and this form prevailed.
Salt(ed) Lassi-3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek), 1/4 cup cold water, 1/3 teaspoon salt, a good pinch of ground cumin. Ice cubes for serving. Put the yogurt, the water, the salt and the cumin into a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. There should be a nice foam topping. Pour over ice cubes in a glass.
* Usually pronounced in English like the name of the famous dog, "Lassie," but in Hindi and Urdu, it has a short "a," as in "father," and emphasis is on the second part of the word, as if, "lah-SEE." Hindi and Urdu are Indo European languages from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. They are related to English, but further down the family tree.
Saffron Lassi: This is a much richer drink: 3/4 cup plain thick yogurt (Indian or Greek style), 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom, a good pinch of saffron strands soaked in two tablespoons of warm milk, a pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon honey, 1 or 2 tablespoons heavy cream, tablespoon crushed pistachios, 3 or 4 raisins, couple of ice cubes. Add the yogurt, milk, cardamom, saffron milk, honey and salt to a blender. Blend for about 30 seconds. Pour over a couple of ice cubes in a glass. Add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream on top, then sprinkle on the pistachios and raisins.
Pistachio-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it goes back to transliterated Persian "pisteh," which was the name for the nut and for the tree. This was borrowed by Greek as transliterated "pistakion" ("pistake" for the tree), which was borrowed by Latin as "pistacium" ("pistachio nut"), which was passed onto Italian as "pistacchio," which was borrowed by French from Italian as "pistace," in the 1300s. English borrowed the word from French circa 1500, but then about one hundred years later English borrowed the Italian form, with the minor spelling adjustment to "pistachio," and this form prevailed.
Labels: Bangladeshi recipes, buttermilk, cold drinks, English, etymology, French, Greek, Indian recipes, Italian, lassi, Latin, Pakistani recipes, Persian, pistachios, recipes, saffron, yogurt
posted by Randy at 11:54 AM
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