Happy Sri Rama Navami!! We offer food to the deity as Neivedyam(Naivedyam) on festive occasions and auspicious days as part of a worship ritual, before eating it. One such popular prasadam is panakam. Panakam, a traditional and healthy sweet drink is prepared during Sri Rama Navami as Neivedyam for Lord Rama. Today, I’m going to share a quick Panakam Recipe, which is a must for this festival.
Click here to know more about the significance of this festival.
Panakam is an Ayurvedic energy boosting and thirst quenching summer drink. It smells and tastes divine!!…And also a perfect thirst quencher during summer. Panakam, Panagam or Panaka is one of the best summer drinks. The mix of jaggery with pepper and cardamom helps to keep your body cool. The jaggery or concentrated sugarcane juice does not undergo any chemical processing and works as a natural sweetener. This decadent drink is sweet, refreshing and you can prepare it in flat 10 minutes.
Nowadays, you will find variations to this same drink. So, you can come up with variations to this easy drink by adding lemon juice, cloves, tulsi (holi basil) etc. Some of them add dry ginger powder but this is how my mother makes at home and I just adore it!! Enjoy this sweet n spicy drink all around summer to beat the heat.
Without further delay, lets make this simple energy drink this festival!!
Click HERE for quick video!!
Off to Panakam Recipe!!
Easy Steps to follow for Panakam Recipe:
How to make Panakam: Video
- In addition to water, these are all the ingredients you will need for Panakam Recipe:
- Coarsely powder pepper and cardamom in a mortar.
- Dissolve the jaggery in a half cup of water. Mix it well till it dissolves completely. If you are in a hurry, then microwave jaggery for about 2 minutes. This will help jaggery dissolve quickly.
- Once the jaggery dissolves, strain to remove any impurities.
- Take a pitcher and add remaining water to it. Add the jaggery liquid to the pitcher or any big jug depending on the quantity you are making.
- Now add the pepper and cardamom powder. Keep it in the refrigerator to cool. In the meantime the flavours from the pepper and cardamom infuse into the liquid.
- Remove from the refrigerator, strain and serve.
- If you are making panakam for the festival, then offer it to God first and then you can enjoy!!
A Quick Summary:
Panakam Recipe | How to make Panakam for Sri Rama Navami | Summer Drink
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Crushed jaggery
- 2 to 2 1/2 Cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Pepper coarsely crushed
- 3 Cardamoms crushed
Instructions
- Dissolve the jaggery in a half cup of water. Mix it well till it dissolves completely.
- Once the jaggery dissolves, strain to remove any impurities.
- Take a pitcher and add water to it. Add the jaggery liquid to the pitcher or any big jug depending on the quantity you are making.
- Now add the pepper and cardamom powder. keep it in the refrigerator to cool. In the meantime the flavours from the pepper and cardamom infuse into the liquid.
- You can serve as it is or strain and serve.
My Notes:
- Adjust sweetness with the quantity of jaggery to suit your taste. Similarly adjust spiciness with pepper. The taste of this drink lies in the addition of pepper. Be cautious not to add too much pepper, as it will be too spicy.
- Increase or decrease water quantity to balance out the flavours in the panakam.
- Jaggery always has some impurities. So, it is advisable to always strain the jaggery syrup before using it for any recipe.
- You can also add dry ginger powder and a splash of lemon squeeze.
- Add a pinch of edible camphor (pacha karpuram) for that divine touch you get in the panakam served in temples.
You might want to check out:
FESTIVAL RECIPES and DRINK RECIPES
Many more to come!!…..STAY TUNED!!
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Happy Cooking 🙂
Cheers!!
Padma.
