Rama Navami Panakam - Chef In You

Rama Navami Panakam by DK on Mar 29, 2017

Simply put, Panakam is an Ayurvedic energy boosting and thirst quenching summer drink. While it is associated as a Rama Navami festival prasadam, in my house we enjoy it during hot months to rejuvenate ourselves instead of additive laden, health damaging cool drinks. My two cents - between Neer Mor (spiced buttermilk) , Panagam and Coconut water (..and of course good old water!) , there is pretty much nothing else that one needs to beat the heat! Jaggery is dissolved with water and mildly spiced to make this refreshing drink. Takes like 5 minutes to put together and can be enjoyed to heart's content. Here's to a "no recipe" recipe.

Cook time: No cook time
Prep time: Under 15 min
Serves: 1-2 people
Yields: 2 cups

Ingredients

100 grams (3.5oz/ abt 3/4 cup) Jaggery
1/8 tsp (heaped) Cardamom powder, or to taste
1/8 tsp (heaped) Sukku Powder/Dry Ginger Powder, or to taste
2-3 tbsp of freshly squeezed Lemon Juice
1-2 Tulsi leaves (optional)

Method

1. Powder the jaggery. I measured the powdered Jaggery to the amount mentioned above.

2. Mix 2 cups of warm/hot water. The warm water helps the jaggery dissolve faster. But you can use room temperature water as well. In that case let the jaggery sit in the water for 20-30 minutes.

3. Use a spoon or back of a spatula to break up the bits

4. and strain it to make sure. Any leftover pieces can be broken down and mixed with the water again.

5. Add the spices and squeeze lemon juice to this mix. The kind of jaggery and the taste preference will dictate the amount of spices you would want to use. For us, these amounts are perfect.