PHOTO by ROSHEILA ROBLES

The best Indian food is always a slow burn, stubbornly spicy and resistant to any water, juice or tea that drenches it. What can beat that heat, though, is a lassi—a yogurt-based drink that blankets the burn with a smooth and cool flood. A good lassi strikes the balance between sweet and tart, with blended mangoes, other fruits or even mild herbs countering the tangy yogurt. And a good mango lassi (probably the most popular variety) does that perfectly. But the mango lassi is also a fickle extinguisher, easily turned overly sweet and overpowering. Udupi Palace’s rose lassi, then, is a perfect alternative: subtle, simple and refreshing. There’s a lot of apprehension to rose as a flavor, yes, but any fear that the lassi is going to taste like a bottle of cheap perfume quickly disappears—it’s light and understated, the airy, almost fruity hint of rose only fluttering at the end of each sip. Best of all, when the lassi comes to your table, it looks a lot like a candy cane: veins of red, rose-flavored essence swirled through the creamy white yogurt. But by the time you reach the bottom, the lassi turns a pastel pink, leaving you only to blush at how fast you slurped the thing down.

UDUPI PALACE 18635 PIONEER BLVD | ARTESIA 90701 | 562.860.1950

Tags: artesia, indian, lassi, little india, rose