Hello, retro food lovers!  Today’s post features the letter L and Delicious Magazine from April 2004.  Our meal today has a slightly Indian feel with a lassi, some lamb and a lovely lemony dessert!  But before we get to the food, let’s set the scene.

The Da Vinci Code was the best-selling book of the first half of April.  Quelle surprise!  However, for the remaining two weeks, Glorious Appearing stole the number-one spot!  Before you get excited, this book sounds dreadful!  I would rather read The Da Vinci Code!  Toxic by Britney was number one on the charts and Hellboy was number one at the box office. 

Hopefully more on the side of glorious, rather than toxic or hellish is our menu for April 2004!

Mango Lassi

I am starting my L themed meal with a Mango Lassi.  Lassis are yogurt-based drinks often containg spices. Think of it as a Punjabi smoothie.  Lassis boast a long history, dating back to 1000 BC!  People believed they had healing properties.  Drinking lassis could improve your digestion and your skin and reduce bloating just to name a few!  

Lassis can be sweet or savoury.  The mango here makes this one quite sweet so it would have been an equally nice way to end the meal!  This also takes less than a minute to make so quick as well as delicious.  I used frozen mango in mine so you do not have to wait until mangoes are in season to make this!

Mango Lassi Recipe

Spiced Lamb Lollipops with Korma Sauce and Toasted Almonds

This, like the Mango Lassi above comes from an article called “Curry on Jamie”.  No surprises for guessing that the Jamie is one Mr Oliver, who seems to be featuring in thee 20 Years Ago posts rather a lot.  The Lamb Lollipops were a version of a curry.  The twist was that instead of the meat being cooked in the curry, it was grilled and served with a curry sauce for dipping.  It was absolutely delicious!  I served my Lollipops with a radish and coriander pickle from the same article and some bought paratha.  

Lamb Lollipops Recipe

Lemon Posset with Lemon Crunch

Apart from the letter L, there is another linking factor between today’s recipes.  The lassi dates back to ancient times, Korma is believed to be created in the 16th century for Shah Jalan at the inauguration of the Taj Mahal and our dessert also has it’s roots in history.  The OED traces posset back to the 15th century where, like the lassi, it was known for it’s healing properties.  I liked the lemon crunch because it added some texture into what was otherwise a very soft dessert.  The texture of the posset was panna cotta-esque.  An almond biscotti would have also gone down a treat with this…and created a link with the lamb dish!

Lemon Posset Recipe

I found the quantities here made for quite a sweet mix so l added more lemon juice, specifically as I also knew the crunch would also be sweet.

My Nigella Moment  – Breakfast Almond Croissants

For first-time readers, this refers to the moment at the end of Nigella Lawson’s cooking shows when she sneaks back to the fridge to have another bite of something delicious.  In these Twenty Years Ago posts, it is something contained in the magazine that does not fit with the overall menu theme but I’m sneaking it in because it is too good not to share.  

One of my favorite bakery treats is an almond croissant so I was delighted to find a recipe where I could do a cheats’ version at home.  These were delightful.  And also went nicely with some mango lassi!

Breakfast Almond Croissant Recipe

Oh, I just realised another link.  These meals all belong in a spectrum from yellow to brown…the posset is light lemon yellow, the mango lassi is a pale orange, the korma sauce was a deep orange and the croissants were brown.  These colours are also all autumnal so maybe I was also channelling the seasons with my meal!

Have a great week!