Yoghurt drinks turn up all over the world, and once you know the base method, all of them take about five minutes. Lassi is India’s version, and comes sweet or salted. Ayran is Turkey’s, savoury and simple. Doogh is Iran’s, minty and often fizzy. All three start from the same idea: yoghurt thinned to a drink, then flavoured to suit the food it’s served with.
The Base
A lassi is plain yoghurt blended with cold water and flavourings. How thick you make it is up to you. Nik Sharma uses three parts yoghurt to one part ice-cold water, while Saveur’s Priya Krishna blends yoghurt, water and ice in equal parts, so add the water gradually. Use plain full-fat yoghurt. There’s no need for Greek yoghurt, since you’re thinning it anyway. Sharma sticks with water rather than milk, which he says turns a lassi into more of a smoothie, though plenty of mango lassi recipes use a little milk. Blending aerates the yoghurt and gives the frothy top. A blender is easiest, a stick blender works, and shaking hard in a cocktail shaker or a well-sealed jar also gets it frothy.
Lassi (India)
Mango Lassi
Blend: 2 ripe mangoes (about 400g of flesh), 300g full-fat plain yoghurt, 60ml (¼ cup) milk, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, and 1 to 3 teaspoons of sugar or honey, to taste, until completely smooth. Very sweet mangoes may not need any sugar at all. Pour over ice. Cardamom isn’t in every recipe, but it gives mango lassi a gentle spice that sets it apart from a plain mango smoothie. Use the ripest, sweetest mangoes you can find. Frozen mango works well too, and so does tinned mango pulp from an Indian grocery store.
Salted Lassi
Blend: 500g full-fat yoghurt, 1 cup cold water, half a teaspoon of fine salt, half a teaspoon of roasted cumin (cumin seeds toasted in a dry pan and ground), and 6 to 8 ice cubes. A pinch of ground white or black pepper is a common addition. With pepper and cumin, it’s what many menus in India call namkeen lassi. For a fresher finish, top it with a few shredded mint leaves and a little thinly sliced chilli. This version pairs particularly well with spiced food or a hot meal.
Rose Lassi
Blend: 1½ cups (about 375g) full-fat plain yoghurt, half a cup of ice-cold water, 3 tablespoons of white or light brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of rosewater. Taste, and add up to another ¼ teaspoon of rosewater if you want a stronger flavour. Rosewater is powerful, so go slowly. Pour into glasses over a few ice cubes and sprinkle with a teaspoon of dried edible rose petals (from Middle Eastern and Indian grocery stores). Nik Sharma, whose recipe this follows, uses sugar rather than honey, because honey competes with the rose.
Ayran (Turkey)
Ayran is a three-ingredient drink of yoghurt, water and salt, and one of the most popular drinks in Turkey, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Combine 200g full-fat plain yoghurt, 200ml cold water, and a generous pinch of salt in a blender, and blend for about 20 seconds, until a thick foam forms on top. No blender? Shake it hard in a cocktail shaker or a well-sealed jar. Pour over ice and serve immediately. The froth on the surface is part of the drink. In Turkey, well-frothed ayran is considered better than flat ayran.
Use cold water. If you’re using Greek yoghurt, which is thicker, add an extra splash or two. Ayran cuts through fat and spice the same way a glass of milk does after something too hot to handle, since the casein protein in yoghurt binds to capsaicin and carries it away from the receptors that produce the burning sensation. It’s best drunk straight away, while it’s cold and frothy.
Doogh (Iran)
Doogh is Iran’s cousin of ayran: yoghurt, water and salt again, but with dried mint, and often made fizzy with soda water. Whisk 1 cup (about 250g) of thick plain yoghurt with a pinch of salt until smooth. Add a generous pinch of dried mint, rubbing it between your palms as it goes in. Stir in about 1 cup (250ml) of cold water, a little at a time, until it’s as thin as you like. Use soda water for a fizzy doogh, still water for a flat one, or a mix. Pour over ice and finish with a little more mint.
Doogh is traditionally served alongside rice dishes, grilled kebabs, and the herb-heavy Persian stews like ghormeh sabzi.
Which One to Make
If you want something sweet and fruity, start with mango lassi. If you want something savoury alongside grilled meat or spiced food, ayran is the simplest and quickest. If you want something a little more distinctive, minty and fizzy, doogh is worth the extra ingredient. Lassi can be made up to a day ahead and kept in the fridge (stir it before serving). Ayran and doogh are best drunk straight away, while the froth is still holding.
Sources
These recipes are adapted from tested recipes. Mango lassi: Kirsten Jenkins and Phoebe Wood at SBS Food and America’s Test Kitchen. Salted and rose lassi: Nik Sharma at Food52, checked against Priya and Shailendra Krishna’s lassi guide for Saveur and, for the rosewater, Ainsley Harriott’s mango and rosewater lassi at SBS Food. Ayran: The Mediterranean Dish and Özlem Warren of Özlem’s Turkish Table. Doogh: Saveur and Roberta Muir.
