Panagam | Panakam:
Panagam is a traditional South Indian drink prepared during those hot summer months. It is also offered to God as neivediyam/prasadam (Tamil word for offering) especially on Ugadi, Sri Rama Navami, Hanumath Jayanthi, Narasimha Jayanthi days. I also make it on Thursdays whenever I do Sai Baba poojai or Sri Raghavendra poojai. I am always amazed at how our ancestors made some of these healthy drinks as a part of the religious culture. If you notice, all the above festivals that I mentioned falls during the hot summer months in India, mostly during April and May. After that festival feast, you need something that aids in digestion and something to cool your body as well. What’s better than this panagam?
Ingredients Used:
We need three essential items – water, jaggery, dry ginger powder. You can flavor it with your preferred condiments. I always add crushed cardamom and cardamom powder too. You can also add lemon juice, but I usually skip it as it reminds of the morning ginger and lemon tea. If I am offering it as a prasadam, then I mostly skip the lemon juice. But it is just my personal preference. You can add lemon juice for the citrus flavor.You can reduce the amount of jaggery and dry ginger as per your preference. In our household, we always add more ginger powder – be it for sukku vellam or this panagam. Do you know jaggery is a good source of Instant energy and as it is a complex carb, it slowly releases the energy? Moreover, it is rich in iron and folate as well. I don’t need to add the benefits of dry ginger and cardamom as its universal. Dry ginger speeds up metabolism and aids in digestion. Cardamom has anti-oxidant properties and anti-bacterial properties. I can keep adding the medicinal benefits of these ingredients, but hey this post is about the panakam. So let me stop it here. My point is, please do try this recipe and reap the benefits of the ingredients. Ingredients:
½ cup grated jaggery, approx 65 grams 2 cups of water 1 tsp dried ginger powder 3 green cardamom pods, crushed ⅛ tsp salt
Steps:
Crush the cardamom pods using a mortar and pestle or using a mixer jar/coffee grinder. Mix the crushed pods, dried ginger powder and salt with 2 cups of water.
Add the grated jaggery and mix until it is dissolved.
Strain before serving. Serve cold or at room temperature.
Recipe Notes-
Adjust the jaggery and dry ginger powder amount according to your preference. You can add 3 to 4 tbsps of lemon juice to this drink.
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📖 Recipe
Update Notes: This recipe was originally posted in 2013 but now updated with new photos and fresh content.
