Mango Lassi from the Tomb Raider Cookbook
I made the Tomb Raider Cookbook's recipe for Mango Lassi, a mango, yogurt and milk-based drink from the Punjab region of India. It doesn't always have mango in it, but this recipe does. Some variations have strawberry in them instead. They usually incorporate cardamom, cumin or other spices. This recipe doesn't have cumin, but it does have cardamom, and it's garnished with saffron and crushed pistachios.
As I discussed in my post about the Tomb Raider recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala, Lara Croft has visited India in the introduction of Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider Anniversary, and in the first chapter of Tomb Raider III. Additionally, the next Tomb Raider title, Catalyst, will be set entirely in India.
Since it's a drink made in the blender, there really isn't much to say about making Lassi. You put everything into the blender, puree it, pour the drink into two glasses and then garnish with pistachios and saffron. Unfortunately, I found that I didn't have pistachios when I made this despite thinking I did, so I had to proceed without them. I found the Lassi cool, refreshing, creamy and lightly sweet without being saccharine.
However, I served a smaller glass to a guest and they felt that it didn't have enough mango in it. A lot of Mango Lassi recipes produce a more yellow/golden drink, while mine was mostly white. The recipe has equal parts mango, yogurt and milk; if you added more mango then it'd be a more pronounced flavor, which wouldn't be a bad thing. My guest also disliked the saffron as a garnish and would have preferred it to be in the drink. To each their own. I wish I'd had pistachios.
If you want to make this recipe for Mango Lassi yourself, you can find it in Tomb Raider: The Official Cookbook and Travel Guide.
