Mango Lassi (Mango shake)

You will be surprised to hear that I first had mango lassi in Canada and not in India :) I love yogurt (curd) but never liked the traditional plain lassi. The  thought of sugar and salt in yogurt, nahh, not for me. So I never tried anything termed "Lassi". So when I came to Canada 5 years ago, my husband took me to an Indian restaurant and told me that the place was famous for 'Mango Lassi'. So I reluctantly tried it and fell in love with it. I hope one day I can make my yogurt-hating brother taste my mango lassi :)

There are 2 ways to do it, the traditional way with plain yogurt or my  fool-proof way with Vanilla flavored yogurt. I came up with my way of doing it when my son refused to eat the vanilla yogurt I had bought for him. I had it sitting around for a week when the idea hit me to make mango lassi with the vanilla yogurt. I served it for dinner on my son's birthday and it was a hit :) Don't worry if you don't get vanilla flavored yogurt or mango puree, you can follow the traditional way.

My way:

In my way it is much easier as you don't have to worry about adding sugar or the yogurt being sour.

Ingredients:

• Vanilla yogurt - 1 tub
• Mango puree - 1 Can
• Water or milk - as needed, for dilution

Steps:

• Blend the mango puree and vanilla yogurt together. You may have to do it in 2 batches if your blender is small. Its 1:1 ratio (1 cup mango-1cup yogurt)
• Add a little water and blend to dilute the lassi to you liking.
• Your done. Enjoy :)

Note: Mango puree already has sugar in it and so does vanilla yogurt, so don't add any sugar. Unless you think you need more after tasting it.

Traditional way:

 Ingredients:

• Fresh Yogurt (curd)
• Sweet mango slices or mango puree
• Milk - if yogurt is sour
• Sugar, as needed

Steps:

•  If using mango slices, blend it till it has become a puree.
• Add yogurt and sugar to it and blend again.
• Add milk if its sour. and blend again.
• Again it will be 1:1 ratio.

Banana Bread

This is an easy and low fat banana bread. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com some time back. I make this every time I have some bananas that don't look pretty enough to eat :) Those dark brown ones are apt for this recipe. Next time you have some uneatable bananas lying around, don't waste them, make yourself a banana bread and enjoy :)


Ingredients:

• Ripe bananas -  2 or 3 large ones mashed
• Baking soda - 1Tsp
• Plain yogurt - 1/2 cup 
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Light brown sugar - 3/4cup
• Sugar - 1 Tblsp (if u like it sweeter, I don't use it)
• Egg  - 1
• Vanilla extract - 1tsp
• All-purpose flour - 1 cup
• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
• Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Coco powder - 1Tblsp (Optional, for rich color)
• Walnuts - Chopped 1 handful (optional)

*Tip - you can replace 1 whole egg with 2 egg whites and use low fat yogurt for even less fat. I haven't used it like this, so I'm not sure of the taste.

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg or egg whites, and vanilla.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon, coco powder and salt.
5. Then combine the banana mixture with the oil mixture and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are moistened. Stir in half the walnuts. 
6. Pour into an oiled  loaf pan or a cake pan of your choice. Add remaining walnuts on top.
7. Bake for about 35- 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.