067 / 75 · Smaller Meals and Sweet Finishes
Mango Lassi Chia Cups
4 chilled cups, about 280 g each · Active 15 min · Cook 0 min · Total 4 hr 15 min
Print recipe · PDFMango, yogurt and cardamom borrow the familiar flavor combination of a mango lassi, but chia turns this version into a spoonable cup. It needs at least four hours in the refrigerator, so it is a prepare-ahead choice rather than something to stir together just before eating. A second stirring early in the chill prevents dry clumps. The recipe uses plain nonfat Greek yogurt and 2% milk, with both quantities fixed for the nutrition estimate.
A lassi flavor, a different texture
A drinkable lassi and a chia pudding need different proportions. Here the strained yogurt already gives the mixture body, and chia adds a soft, speckled set. Do not grind the seeds with the mango: stir them through afterwards so they can hydrate evenly. The cup should remain soft enough to spoon, rather than becoming a solid gel. A quick second stir after ten minutes is useful because seeds otherwise gather at the bottom before they have taken up enough liquid.
Weigh mango after trimming
A whole mango includes a substantial stone and skin, neither of which belongs in the ingredient weight. Cut and peel the fruit, then weigh 400 g of flesh. Reserve a quarter in small pieces and blend the remainder. A ripe mango gives both flavor and a warmer color; very pale, underripe fruit does not improve simply because it is blended with syrup. Cardamom is deliberately restrained so it supports the fruit rather than turning the whole cup into a spice mixture.
Let the refrigerator do the waiting
Four small containers chill more evenly and are easier to grab than one large bowl. Divide the mixture immediately after the second stir, add the reserved mango and cover the containers. Total time includes the long chill, although the hands-on work is brief. These cups fit into a week with early sessions or late finishes because they wait safely in the refrigerator; they do not need to be tied to a precise point before or after lifting. The complete cup is the stated serving, not a spoonful measured from a shared tub.
Ingredients
- About 2 1/2 cups ripe mango flesh, peeled and stoned (400 g), divided
- 1 2/3 cups plain nonfat Greek yogurt (400 g)
- 1 cup 2% milk (240 ml/240 g)
- 5 tablespoons chia seeds (60 g)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (20 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (0.5 g)
Set out
Blender, Mixing bowl and whisk, Kitchen scale, Four lidded 12 fl oz/350 ml containers, Knife and cutting board
Allergens
Milk. Check labels and substitutions.
Make it
- Dice 100 g of the mango into small pieces and keep chilled. Put the remaining 300 g mango in the blender with yogurt, milk, maple syrup and cardamom. Blend until smooth.
- Pour into the bowl and whisk in the chia seeds. Cover and refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Whisk again, reaching the bottom of the bowl to break up any seed clusters. Divide equally among the four containers and top each with one-quarter of the reserved mango.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours from the initial mixing, until the seeds are swollen and the mixture is softly spoonable. Serve cold, one complete cup per portion.
Prepare it before you need it
Mix the cups on a day when you can return for the second stir. That short task is easier to fit around training than trying to hurry the chilling stage. The base estimate counts the mango on top as well as the blended fruit.
A useful detail
The 4-hour chill is included in total time. This recipe is intentionally spoonable; do not replace the Greek yogurt with a thin drinking yogurt without expecting a looser result.
Another way
- Use 400 g ripe peach flesh in place of mango and substitute 1/4 teaspoon/0.5 g cinnamon for cardamom.
- Replace the maple syrup with 20 g honey; its flavor will be more noticeable than the syrup’s.
Keep it well
Keep covered at 40°F/4°C or below and use within 2 days. Stir the lower layer before eating if it has settled. Carry in an insulated bag with two cold sources and refrigerate on arrival. Do not leave a dairy cup in a warm gym locker.