Panakam, also called Panagam or Panaka, is a traditional cooling drink from South India made for the Sri Rama Navami festival. It is prepared with jaggery, lemon juice, ginger powder, cardamom and black pepper. This simple drink is refreshing and is usually offered as prasad during the festival.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 3
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: Andhra, Karnataka, South Indian, Tamil Nadu

Ingredients

  • ½ cup jaggery (- chopped)
  • 2 cups water (or add as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon dry ginger powder ((ground ginger))
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper powder
  • ⅓ to ½ teaspoon green cardamom powder
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 1 pinch edible camphor (- optional)
  • 4 to 5 tulsi ((holy basil leaves), optional)
  • 3 to 4 ice cubes (- optional)

Method

  1. In a bowl, take the chopped jaggery and water.
  2. Mix very well and let the jaggery soak in water for 30 to 40 minutes till all of it is dissolved. If there are impurities in the jaggery syrup, then filter the solution using a fine strainer.
  3. Add the lemon juice.
  4. Next add ginger powder, green cardamom powder, black pepper powder and salt.
  5. Yo can also add a pinch of edible camphor. If offering panakam to deities then you can add edible camphor.
  6. Mix very well.
  7. Offer panakam to the deities. If offering to the deities, then you can add a few holy basil leaves (tulsi leaves) in the panakam. If serving to your family and friends, you can refrigerate or add some ice cubes in the panakam.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.