Folks who drink milk and use dairy products all over the subcontinent love lassi–so you can find both northern and southern style recipes in books and all over the net.

As for the coconut milks–Mae Ploy is always thicker and richer than Chao Koh. For certain curries I only use the former–ones that I like to be extra specially creamy, like green curry, for example. Others, I use only Chao Koh–like Thai yellow curry, which I like to be thinner and lightly sweeter.

And then, for my Tom Kha Gai, I mix the two, and then thin out the soup with chicken broth. The two combined make the perfect tom kha gai–sweet and rich without being too thick.

Second, I always thought lassis were North Indian, as you say, but the South Indian restaurant in Columbus is big on lassis (3 flavors, all you can drink) –is that just a sign they spread all over India or is that restaurant not traditional in that respect, do you know?

Third, I am fascinated by your comment regarding the 2 coconut milks. I guess I never noticed before and in the past I have always either used both or all chao koh, and the last time I made red curry (Thai) all I had was mae ploy and my goodness it was thick and more cream than water. So I guess you are saying that wasn’t a fluke. Good to know.

Glad to hear your Preethi is working well–when you do your bigger review please include comments on which model you would suggest if we already own a blender that works fine (i.e., on ice).