Citrus Panakam

January by no means is lemonade season, but with the abundance of citruses we can’t let the season go by without making a tasty recipe that celebrates these natures gift.

During the latter part of March, Ram Navmi is celebrated in India, a Hindu festival to celebrate the birth of Lord Rama. One of the offerings is a drink called “panakam” much like lemonade with cardamom, ginger, a hint of black pepper and loads of jaggery  ( raw unprocessed cane sugar). Even though it’s unprocessed and raw, jaggery is calorically sugar and the traditional recipe is too sweet for my liking. I made this drink using naturally sweet whole oranges and keeping the rest of the traditional recipe as is. Its bursting with natural citrus flavors, a touch of floral Meyer lemon flavor, ginger and cardamom.

Notes

• If you can’t find Meyer lemons just use regular lemons it does not change the taste of the drink. Meyer lemons are not as acidic as regular lemons and have a distinct floral scent. 
• This is a basic recipe, adjust the orange juice or spices to your liking.
• Sweeten with honey or sugar if you need extra sweetness.
• If you prefer, you can also use good quality unsweetened, fresh squeezed store-bought orange juice.
• This drink is perfect during the hot summer months with lots of ice.
• To make ginger juice simply grate ginger using a microplane grater, press out as much juice as possible to get  about 2-3 tablespoons of juice you can place it in a clean cheese cloth and squeeze the juice out. Save the pulp for curries or other recipes, it’s still pretty good stuff.