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Sparkling Panakam (Ginger, Cardamom, Lime Juice Sparkling Water)

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Sparkling PanakamHeidi Swanson

I'm just beginning to explore the fascinating world of traditional Indian beverages. One of the most refreshing I've discovered to date is panakam, typically made during the Hindi festival Sri Rama Navami. If you can imagine a frosty cold, light, bright homemade ginger beer, you'll have an idea of its taste. I make my version sparkling, and because the traditional jaggery is sometimes hard to come by (and slow to dissolve), I use whatever full-flavored, fine-grain, natural cane sugar I have on hand—muscovado works nicely. This version is also dialed back as far as sweetness goes; some versions I've come across use double or even triple the amount of sugar. Feel free to adjust the sweetness to your liking.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 4 cups/1 liter

Ingredients

1/4 cup/1.25 oz/35 g fine-grain natural cane sugar or muscovado sugar
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
4 cups/1 liter sparkling water, chilled
Ice cubes

Preparation

  1. In a medium pitcher, make a thick paste by stirring together the sugar, ginger, cardamom, lime juice, salt, and a small splash of the sparkling water. Stir until any lumps have dissolved. Add more water, a little at a time, stirring all the while. The mixture will get quite fizzy, so just take it slow. Serve as cold as possible with as many ice cubes wedged into the pitcher as possible.

Reprinted with permission from Super Natural Every Day: Well-loved Recipes from My Natural Foods Kitchen by Heidi Swason. Text and photographs copyright © 2011 by Heidi Swanson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc. Writer, photographer, and designer HEIDI SWANSON is the creator of 101 Cookbooks, the award-winning culinary blog and recipe journal. She is also the author of Cook 1.0 and Super Natural Cooking. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Glamour, the Washington Post, Time, Fast Company, Utne Reader, and the Vegetarian Times, as well as on Salon.com and NPR.com. Heidi lives, cooks, and writes in San Francisco. Visit www.101cookbooks.com and www.heidiswanson.com.
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