The pleasures of simplicity. A bowl of sliced mango straight from the fridge. Juicy cucumber topped with chilli powder and salt. Frozen strawberries blended into a chilly smoothie.
Yoghurt. In tall glasses of buttermilk flecked with fragrant curry leaves. In velvety curd rice speckled with mustard. In sweet frothy pots of lassi.
This summer, try something new: spirals of creamy frozen yoghurt, courtesy Kiwi Kiss, which has just opened at Ampa Mall. Their Fro-Yo (that's frozen yoghurt working hard at becoming the coolest kid in class) is brilliant in its simplicity.
After all, when it's so hot, all you want is something that's light and easy to digest. And, what could be easier than yoghurt, considering how every Indian child grows up on it.
Jaypal Concessao, Business Head for Kiwi Kiss, run by Brand Calculus (which is also the franchisee for Booster Juice) walks us through the Fro Yo process, demonstrating how the best ideas are often the most simple.
“We begin with fresh, low-fat probiotic curd,” he says, going on to explain the how it's packed with active cultures that are good for your stomach. Then comes the skimmed milk. (Ironically a battery of experiments at the Kiwi Kiss Bangalore store demonstrated that this milk yields fluffier yoghurt than full fat.) The mixture's put into a soft serve machine, traditionally used for ice cream, along with a “secret powder” sent from the Kiwi Kiss's original outlet in Edmonton, Canada.
The machine churns the mixture till it acquires a texture that's just a little denser than ice-cream. It's served in a traditional ice-cream style swirl, and comes in four flavours. There's plain, in which the pure, luscious flavour of good yoghurt shines through. The next three are created with fruit pulp: Strawberry, reminiscent of a fruit preserve, delicately green Kiwi, and Mango, rather muddled and lacking zest.
Now, here's the good news. One cup of 100 gm sets you back just 90 calories, as opposed to a full-fat ice cream which contains anything between 400 and 500 calories, according to Jaypal. If that's too Spartan for you, jazz it up with berries, fruits, nuts and muesli. We try vanilla with frozen blueberries which is deliciously refreshing thanks to the sweet tartness of the yoghurt paired with the tanginess of the berries, lush with frozen juice.
Kiwi Kiss' next outlet will be at Express Mall, where they are planning a large store, which Jaypal says they “intend to make a hangout.”
Meanwhile, the team's dreaming up all kinds of combinations. Fro-Yo shakes. Fro-Yo in waffle cones. Even Fro-Yo served with brownies. In the meantime enjoy the pleasures of plain vanilla.
