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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Punjab

Lassiलस्सी

Dahi is whisked or churned with cold water into a frothy drink, sweetened with sugar or seasoned with salt and cumin. In the old Punjabi way the dahi is churned for butter first and the sour buttermilk becomes lassi. The souring happens in the dahi; lassi itself is mixed, not fermented again. Made in 4 steps over 23 h – 29 h. The longest step, set the dahi, takes 18–24 h (Prasad H 2026) and runs at 23–24 °C (Prasad H 2026). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and subsp. cremoris, with Leuconostoc and Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step18–24 hReported[prasad2026][fao-tmp]Set the dahi
Temperature23–24 °CReported[prasad2026]Set the dahi
AciditypH 4–5Reported[prasad2026]Whisk with cold water and flavour
Fully documentedFermented milk23 h – 29 hMore fermented milkMore from IndiaMore from Pakistan

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceHousehold lassi has no fixed recipe. The amounts given are the legal minimum share of fermented milk in India and the sugar level of one industrial process.
Dahi (plain curd) · India's standard requires at least 40 % fermented milk in drinks based on fermented milk[prasad2026][fssai2022]
Cold water[prasad2026][fao-tmp]
12 % sugar syrup (industrial)Sugar, for sweet lassi[prasad2026]
Salt, cumin or other spices, for salted lassi[prasad2026]
Startervia dahi (backslop or defined culture)

Total time across the recorded steps: 23 h – 29 h

Start
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Milk sugarLactic acid23–24 °Cshapes, not to countLactococcus lactisLeuconostoc traditionalS. thermophilusL. delbrueckii

What changes: Lactic bacteria sour the milk overnight into dahi

Step 1 of 4
Set the dahi
Time
18–24 h
Reported
Temperature
23–24 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Leuconostoc traditional
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii

In households, boiled milk is cooled to body temperature and 0.5 to 1 percent dahi or buttermilk from the last batch is stirred in.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Lassi is a drink made from dahi, not a separate ferment; traditional lassi uses the sour buttermilk left after churning butter from dahi. It has much less added water than chaas, the spiced thin buttermilk.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Bhang lassiContains bhang (cannabis), sold during Holi.
  • Mango lassiFruit pulp is added.
  • Industrial lassiMilk at 1.5–3 % fat heated to 90 °C for 15 min, homogenised, set with yoghurt cultures, broken up and sweetened with sugar syrup.

Safety

FAO gives traditional lassi a shelf life of only 4 to 5 hours, so drink it soon after making it or keep it cold. Indian rules require starter microbes of at least 10⁷ cfu/g in fermented milks that are not heat-treated after fermentation.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The word lassi is first recorded in 1882.

  1. [fao-tmp] FAO 1990, The technology of traditional milk products in developing countries, Animal Production and Health Paper 85 (lassi and dahi)gov
  2. [fssai2022] Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulations 2011, compendium version XXVI (20.12.2022), fermented milk productsgov
  3. [prasad2026] Prasad H., Song S., Jang M.J. et al. 2026, A multidisciplinary review of the microbial, functional, and consumer advancement of Indian lassi, Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteinspaper
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Lassi (history only)wiki