Panagam | Panakam - South Indian summer drink

Panakam or Panagam, meaning a sweet drink in Sanskrit is a Traditional South Indian Summer drink made of jaggery and lime juice, flavoured with cardamom and slightly spiced with a hint of dry ginger and black peppercorns. This jaggery lemonade is a natural coolant for the tropical summers.

According to the Hindu calendar, there are six seasons and Ayurveda has a system in place for each season. These set of instructions also includes seasonal food habits. As we need to be hydrated during summer, natural coolants were used. One such summer drink is Panakam, an ancient lemonade made with jaggery water. Panaka in sanskrit means a sweet drink.

Since ancient times, jaggery has been used as a natural sweetener in India. Also known as the medicinal sugar in the Indian food industry, it has considerbale healing properties and is highly regarded in Ayurveda. Jaggery is derived from the Portugese word Jagara which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word Sarkara. Jaggery is nothing but an unrefined raw sugar which is either dark brown or golden in colour.

Tired of trying to break jaggery ? Well, you don't have to anymore! Find out how in this post.

Panakam is offered to Lord Rama on his birthday which is celebrated as Ram Navami throughout India. As his birthday falls during Summer, his offerings were panakam, neer mor (buttermilk), kosumalli (refreshing mung dal salad) which are all suitable for the summer season.

Panakam tips & suggestions:

1. Do not replace jaggery with sugar. It just defeats the purpose and taste. You can use palm sugar if you don't have access to jaggery or may be brown sugar.
2. Use, the jaggery made from palm sugar (dark brown in colour) if possible as it is the highest quality of jaggery. Based on the jaggery you use (the dark variety or the light golden brown), the colour of the drink may slightly differ.
3. Some jaggery variety takes time to dissolve. If thats the case, dissolve in water for a longer period or use mildly warm water to speed up the process.
4. There is no particular recipe for this drink. You can mix and match the ingredients as per your preference. The recipe mentioned below, yields a mildly sweet and refreshing taste (from the lime juice).
5. Tamarind extract is also used instead of lime juice.

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Panakam or Panagam - South Indian Jaggery Lemonade

Prep Time

5 mins

Resting Time

5 mins

Total Time

5 mins

 

Panakam or Panagam is a Traditional South Indian Summer drink made of jaggery and lime juice, flavoured with cardamom and slightly spiced with a hint of dry ginger and black peppercorns. This jaggery lemonade is a natural coolant for the tropical summers. 

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Healthy Indian drinks, Indian summer drinks, Jaggery lemonade

Servings: 2 tall glasses

Author: Nisha

Ingredients

• 1 cup crushed or powdered jaggery refer notes
• 5 to 6 cups water
• ¼ cup lime juice refer notes
• 5 to 6 cardamom pods, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dry ginger powder refer notes
• ⅛ teaspoon black peppercorns (optional)
• A pinch of salt (optional)

Instructions

1. Dissolve jaggery in 1 cup of water. Then strain the jaggery dissolved water to remove impurities. 

   Coarsely crush the peppercorns and cardamom in a mortar pestle (along with the cardamom skin) or you can use powder instead. 

2. Add lime juice, crushed pepper and cardamom, dry ginger powder, salt and the remaining amount of water. Mix well and let it sit for 10 minutes. 

3. Serve chilled or at room temperature. 

Recipe Notes

1. Do not replace jaggery with sugar. It just defeats the purpose and taste. You can use palm sugar if you don't have access to jaggery or may be brown sugar.
2. Use, the jaggery made from palm sugar (dark brown in colour) if possible as it is the highest quality of jaggery. Based on the jaggery you use (the dark variety or the light golden brown), the colour of the drink may slightly differ.
3. Some jaggery variety takes time to dissolve. If thats the case, dissolve in water for a longer period or use mildly warm water to speed up the process.
4. There is no particular recipe for this drink. You can mix and match the ingredients as per your preference. The recipe mentioned below, yields a mildly sweet and refreshing taste (from the lime juice).
5. Tamarind extract is also used instead of lime juice.