Paanakam ( Jaggery Drink)

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Panakam is sweet drink made by jaggery. Paanakam is sanskrit word which means sweet drink. This drink is popular in South India and is often prepared for Naivediyam (a offering to god). It is especially prepared on Ram Navmi in most south Indian household. On the occassion of Ram Navmi (the birthday of Lord Rama), Panakam and vadapappu are the two most important food prepared and offered to the Lord. It is believed that Vadapappu is Sita devi's favourite and Paanakam is Lord Rama's favourite drink. Vadapappu is salad made from Moong dal .

Paanakam is a excellent summer drink and is healthy too. Since it is made of jaggery without using sugar , it makes it favorable to all the health conscious people.It tastes excellent when chilled and can be used as a summer drink to quench the thirst. Also it can be prepared and stored in Refrigerator for 2 -3 days.

Ingredients:

Jaggery - 250 grams
Water - 10 cups
Sonth (Dried ginger / chukku) - 1 tablespoon
Peppercorns - 5-6 nos
Cardamom (Elaichi) - 6-8 nos
Lime juice - 2 tablespoon.

Method:

Get good quality jaggery for this recipe. I would recommend to use dark red/brown colour jaggery which is available in market.There are varieties of jaggery made in india but the dark coloured jaggery is high is iron content and is rich in sweetness and hence is considered good for both cooking and health benefits too.
The above pic shows two variety of jaggery and i recommend using the darker one which is high in iron content and also sweetness.

Choose the second variety of jaggery for this sweet drink.

Usually people dissolve jaggery in water and make this drink. But i prefer boiling the jaggery with 1 cup water over flame till it gets dissolved. This way a peculiar raw kind of taste of jaggery goes away.
Grate the jaggery and add a cup of water to it and heat it over flame till it gets dissolved.
Remove from fire and add 10 cups of water to it.
In a blender, take Sonth, Peppercorns and Cardamom and blend it. Don't blend it into fine powder.
Add this powder to the jaggery water and mix well.
Add the lime juice and mix well.
Refrigerate it for 3-4 hrs and serve chilled.

Preparation time: 20 mins.
Making time: 20 mins.
Shelflife: 3 days, if refrigerated.
Serves: 12 glasses approximately.
Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled.

Note:

Use dark coloured jaggery for Panakam.
Don't blend the herbs into very fine powder.

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