I have one irritating characteristic! I ask "Why?" a LOT!  Irritating to whom? Me, of course!  Gone are the days when I had my parents nearby to keep pestering them with this. At most times, my mom would be at her wit's end and would ask me "Why NOT?"!  But I had issues accepting things without question if it did not make sense to me. I mean, everything should have a logical reasoning to it, shouldn't there be? Be it our cultural customs to something weird in our solar system. There should be some explanation - we either know it or we don't. But to believe and follow something blindly just cos "That's how it is", has always been a problem for me. Of course, I followed them when I had to (as if I had a choice!?) but it never meant that I was happy with it. Now this "Why?" haunts me! In something even as simple as Cooking! I need to know why you use this method, this ingredient, in this proportions. And now this time, sadly its only me who has to do all the research for "Why?" and I am left with no answers, 99% of the time! I am faced with this everlasting - "That's how it is" all the time. Now lets take this humble Mango Lassi for example. I had lots of questions for it too. "What? Are you serious? What's there to question in this recipe?" - you ask. yeah! I hear you. But listen to my side.

Why 1: Why is this famous "Indian" drink when all I have enjoyed in India is either Salt Lassi or Sweet Lassi? Never heard of Mango Lassi until my advent to this country of U.S.A. While Wikipedia suggests that it is indeed famous in India/Pakistan, I was surprised that having lived in both the northern and southern parts of India, not one family, shop, restaurant carried Mango lassi!!! I detest being cheated by the "Indian" crowd this way all this while  ;) Why 2: If you are using Indian classic Lassi recipe to adapt, hence the "Indian" attached to it, then why add milk to all the Mango Lassi recipes as if its "THE" ingredient? The specialty of  Lassi is all about the buttermilk/Yogurt (called as "chaas"). Water is added for the consistency of the drink. Salt, spices, sweeteners are added according to what Lassi you enjoy. What is enjoyed as Lassi in the North of India, "Neer more" is enjoyed similarly in the south. "Neer" is water and "more" is yogurt/buttermilk in Tamil where the yogurt is stirred with lots of water so that it has watery consistency and spiced with salt, asafodita, and curry leaves. This is enjoyed esp. during the hot scorching months (mostly all the time!) Anyways, after a lot of difficulty I made this simple recipe. Why difficult? Well that's cos, when the hand was working, the mouth did not want to sit idle and for a mango addict that I am, I had tough time not to keep popping the mango pulp in my mouth. Thanks to which - so many times I was left with no mangoes to make this recipe! For other recipes, at least I have other ingredients ready and which I cannot waste - so that makes me more disciplined. But since this one did not need any other "special" ingredient - there was no wastage and there was always this "I can always make it some other time" excuse in my head. But after being requested by my other half like a million times for this, I caved in and made this the other day while he kept watch over my addiction ;). There are no specific "Do's" and "Don't" for this recipe. And "measuring" fairy will not haunt you either if you don't follow correct cups and spoon measurements. Trust your tongue and plunge in. Like the Mango flavor? Add more mango pulp. Don't want to use sugar? Try honey. No sweeteners at all? Choose v. sweet mangoes. Like it thick and creamy? Just add thick yogurt to it. Like it smooth and more like a drink? Add as much water you prefer. No hard and fast rules on this one. Play with it as per your wish and it will comply to your every wish and fancy.