Panakaram | Panakam | Traditional Drink | Summer Drink

Panakaram /Panakam, a delicious cooling drink prepared from lemon. For many temple festival in south tamilnadu, this panakaram(that's how we mention  "Panakam" in south tamilnadu) and neer moor are the most distributed drink to the people. 

In my school days, i had fond memories of having them druing ther thiruvizha(temple car festival) in my home town, Tirunelveli. During that time, people used to make panthal(small temporary store) on the road side and bring the panakaram and neer moor(Both are real thirst quencher and keep you cool in hot sun) in a large vessel to give to all the people who pay visit to the car festival. 

Amma says that in those days, the panakaram was mainly made with tamarind, instead of lemon. For tamarind panakaram, soak the tamarind in water, extract the pulp and add water as needed and add the remaining ingredients as such in the ingredients list. 

Even now, in certain temples, they do the same. When talking to Amma over phone last week, she mentioned that she prepared this panakam for around 100 people to distribute to the nearby Amman temple on Aadi Velli(Friday of Aadi(Tamil) month), since then i was craving for this delicious drink and made this few days back 😊 .

 Now let's check out how i have prepared this delicious panakaram with lemon.

Panakaram | Panakam | Traditional Drink

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Panakam, Traditional Summer Drink, Panakaram Panakaram /Panakam, a delicious & traditional South Indian drink prepared from lemon.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Lemon - 1/2
Jaggery - 3 tbsp
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Procedure

First measure and take the jaggery in a bowl, add water, let it sit for couple of mins or until the jaggery dissolves completely.

Strain the jaggery water to remove the impurities, then add the lemon juice squeezed from the 1/2 of the lemon.

Next add the salt and cardamon powder. Mix it all well together and the panakaram is ready.

Delicious Panakaram is ready to serve.

Related:How to make Neer Moor

Notes:

• Ground the jaggery into fine powder using hand motor and pestle or mixie to dissolve it easily.
• Salt really enhance the taste, so highly recommend to add.
• You can use ice water for chilled drink.
• In addition to cardamom, you can add pinch of dry ginger/sukku powder too.
• If you have tulsi, add few leaves. I can't source it here, so skipped it.
  

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Sugarcane Juice/Karumbu Saru , a freshly squeezed juice from the sugarcane. Sugarcane is one of the must ingredient we used to offer on Pongal festival. During pongal, the fresh sugarcane is available throughout Tamilnadu, India and i love to have them as it is and also throughout the year, the sugarcane juice is easily available from road side vendors in Tamilnadu.  Also seen elder people(who can't bite the sugarcane) at my home town bring the sugar cane to the near by sugar cane juice vendor to squeeze the juice at nominal rate. So never thought of making juice from it at home.
Now coming to making juice at home, last year, i had seen recipes from fellow bloggers making sugar cane juice at their home using mixie, since then i wanna give this method a  try and for this pongal luckily we're in India, so just for the sake of making juice, i reserved few sugarcanes otherwise i would have finished them earlier. Making juice at home was way easier than i had expected, if you have good heavy duty indian mixie, then you can make them in secs. Now let's check how i squeezed the juice from sugarcane.

Home made Sugarcane Juice | Karumbu Saru | Karumbu Juice

Preparation Time : 20 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Juice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Sugarcane - 1/2 
Ginger - a small piece
Lemon juice - 1 tsp

Procedure

First cut the sugarcane into slits using aruval or sharp butcher knife. Then it will be easy to break into pieces. While breaking them into pieces, the dark skin will be peeled off, discard them and use only the sugarcane flesh.Do the same for the whole sugarcane. Peel the skin of ginger and add it into the mixie jar, then add the sugarcane.Grind them into paste and then strain the juice using the strainer, discard the residue. Then squeeze the lemon into it and mix well.Pour into the serving glass. Homemade Sugarcane Juice is ready to serve.
Notes:

• If you want them to serve chill, refrigerate few hours before serving, don't add ice cubes, it will dilute the juice.
•  Heavy duty Indian mixie required for making this juice.
• Ginger and lemon juice is purely optional, but adding them enhancing the taste, so highly recommend it.
  

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Cucumber Juice | Cucumber Lemon Juice | Summer Drinks

Cucumber lemon juice, a perfect thirst quencher on summer days. It's one of my recent favorite juices to have on hot summer days. 

Cucumber has more than 95% water hence it's perfect to include in your diet on summer days to keep you hydrated. Mostly we like to have them sliced or used in raita as a side dish. 

But when i browsed through pinterest a while ago, i came across this cucumber juice and really like the idea of making  juice with cucumber, so later whenever i have bulk cucumbers in hand, without second thought, i made this juice. 

Here in the juice, i have used salt to season it, but instead of salt, you can add sugar/honey too. It's really up to your preference whether you want salty or sweet juice.

Cucumber Juice | Cucumber Lemon Juice

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 1 
Recipe Category: Juice | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Cucumber - 1 
Lemon - 1/2
Salt - 2 pinch
Pepper - to taste
Water - as needed

Procedure

First peel the cucumber and slice them roughly, put the cucumber slices into the blender.

Add enough water and grind them into smooth puree. Strain the cucumber puree.

Squeeze the lemon juice and add salt and pepper as per your taste. 

Stir well and it's ready to serve. Tasty and cool Cucumber Juice is ready.

Related:How to make pineapple raita

Notes:

• You can have this juice as it is without any straining too.
• If you like mint flavor, add few mint leaves while grinding the cucumber.
• Serve fresh for better taste.  
  

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Lemon Soda | Sweet Lemon Soda | Summer Drinks

Lemon Soda, a perfect thirst quencher on the hot summer days. I personally don't like any kind of soda like pepsi or coke except this one and always prefer to make lemon soda at home than the store bought ones, that way I can control the amount of sugar that gets into my drink. 

Lemon Soda is  so simple and easy to make and also gives you an instant refreshing feeling that can't be beat by any other soda drink.

Here in this post, I have shared the basic sweet lemon soda recipe, but you can make tons of variations into it like adding mint, replacing sugar with salt ,combination of sweet and salt , adding a hint of pepper & cumin and I can go on with the options. So it's really up to you, how you like the lemon soda and feel free to try out all the combinations. 

Related: How to make Paneer Soda

Not only does it taste great on hot summer days, it tastes best with pizzas too. My personal favorite !!! Whenever we order pizza instead of buying any soda, i prefer lemon soda with my pizzas!!! Trust me, if you haven't tried this combo, give it a try, surely you will love this.

Sweet Lemon Soda

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 5 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
lemon soda, summer drink,sweet lemon soda Lemon Soda, a perfect thirst quencher on the hot summer days.It's one of the easiest summer drink that you can prepare in no time.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Lemon - 2
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Soda - as needed
Ice cubes - few

Procedure

First let's make sugar syrup, take the sugar in a sauce water and add the water into it. Turn the heat on and bring to boil.Once the sugar dissolves completely, switch off the flame and let it cool completely.

Take a lemon, cut into half, squeeze half the lemon juice into one serving glass, add 2tbsp of  sugar syrup and the required soda. 

Tada, Sweet lemon soda is ready. Top it with some ice cubes and lemon wedges & serve it immediately. For more summer drink and popsicle recipe, check out here

Related: How to make Sweet & Salt Limeade

Notes:

• Depends on the tartness of lemon, you can add more or less sugar syrup.
• Pour the soda just before serving. Otherwise the soda would be flat.
• Add pinch of salt in the lemon soda,it will help to bring out the sweetness well.
  

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Nannari Sarbath | Nannari Lemon Sherbet | Lemon Sharbat

Nannari Sarbath is one of my all time favorite drinks and it's made from lemon juice and nannari syrup. Nannari syrup is prepared from Nannari roots(Indian Sarsaparilla) which is a natural coolant.  

Nannari roots are mostly available in Indian ayurvedic store where you can buy and make this syrup(By boiling the roots in water to extract the flavor and then sweetened with sugar as per your liking) But here in today's recipe i have used the store bought nannari syrup which i got from my recent India trip.

During our summer vacation in school days, there were a lot of small vendors selling this nannari sarbath, but nowadays i hardly seen any vendors selling this sarbath in our native.I think all the fancy cool drink shop took over the place of this small vendors.But nothing can beat the place of nannari sharbat those who have had this sharbat will agree with me.
When we were in hosur, i used to buy this nannari syrup regularly during summer to quench our thirst till we moved to the US. So this time during our India trip, this nannari syrup is the first thing i brought to bring it here and now summer is peak here in Texas, it really helps to keep our body cool & hydrated.Yes, it's a natural body coolant and it's way better than the aerated drinks.

Nannari Sharbath

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Summer Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Nannari Sarbath, Nanari Lemon sherbet Nannari Sarbath is one of my all time favorite drink and it's made from lemon juice and nannari syrup.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Lemon - 1
Nannari Syrup - 3 tbsp
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup
Ice cubes - few
* I have prepared half the amount of mentioned quantity in this recipe

Procedure

Take all the ingredients and cut the lemon and squeeze the juice.

Then add the nannari syrup,water & give a good stir.

Tada!!! Your Nannari Lemon Sarbath is ready. Add few ice cubes while serving.

Related : Nannari Paal Sharbath

Notes:

• Depends on the tartness of lemon, you may need less or more of nannari syrup.
• Based on the brand, you may need more or less of nannari syrup.
• Adding ice cubes will dilute the sharbat and reduce the sweetness, so while adding nannari syrup take that into account. 

Slrupp!!!!!

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Homemade Strawberry Popsicle | Strawberry Popsicle

Strawberry popsicle, an easy & quick to make popsicle yet it's so delicious and refreshing. If you love strawberry flavor, then this popsicle is definitely for you.

Here in Texas, the temperature has already been around 90F, so I have been making a lot of juices and popsicles these days to keep as cool and hydrated. 

This strawberry popsicle is our favorite, it's so healthy and can be made very easily, all you need to do is put everything in a blender, puree them and freeze. Tada, your popsicle is ready. 

 Also this popsicle is very customizable, you can add more or less of all ingredients as per your preference and it's the best way to make your kids eat fruits.So what are you waiting for? Try this popsicle for this summer and treat your kids.

Related: How to make Strawberry Lemonade 

Strawberry Popsicle

Preparation Time : 8 hrs | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 4 
Recipe Category: Popsicle | Recipe Cuisine: General
Strawberry Popsicle,home made popsicle, summer treats,strawberry popsicle, no added sugar Strawberry popsicle, an easy,delicious & quick to make popsicle without any artificial sugar.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Strawberries - 1/2 lb
Lemon - 1/2
Honey or sugar - as needed.
Water - 1/2 cup

Procedure

Wash the strawberries well, take a strawberry,trim the leafy edge and cut into small pieces.

Do the same for the remaining strawberries and add into the mixie/blender jar. Squeeze lemon juice into it.

Then add honey and grind into thick pulp,then add water as needed and again grind till it becomes frothy.

In a popsicle mold, pour the strawberry mixture till the top and close it with the lid.
Let it freeze for minimum 6 to 8 hrs and to remove the popsicle ,keep the popsicle mold under the running water for 2 mins, then remove it,it will easily come out.

That's it, Delicious Strawberry Popsicle is ready.For more summer drink and popsicle recipe, check out here

Related: How to make Strawberry Coconut Milk Popsicle

Related: How to make Mango Lassi

Notes:

• Depends on the sweetness of the strawberries, adjust the honey
• Based on tartness of the strawberries, add more or less lemon juice as per your liking.
• If you don't have popsicle mold, then use any tall glass along with ice cream stick for freezing.
• Or even if you don't have ice cream stick, just freeze it in tall glass and demold it and serve it in a bowl with spoon.  

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Strawberry Lemonade | Strawberry Juice | Summer Drinks

Strawberry lemonade, an easy summer drink made from strawberries and lemon.It's the recent favorite drink of us. For the past one month, i have been making this for every other day either for our breakfast or as a drink in between meals on weekends.Seriously we are kind of addicted to this drink, while drinking, the flavors of strawberries burst out over your mouth and wanting it more.

When coming to take photos of drinks, really i'm struck. After reading lot of articles on net and watching  videos on youtube, still i couldn't get the knack of taking photographs of drinks.Somehow i managed to click few pictures to share here and i'm really feel sorry for not doing justice to this gorgeous looking lemonade.

Strawberry lemonade

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 0 mins | Serves : 4 to 5  
Recipe Category: Drinks | Recipe Cuisine: General
Strawberry Lemonade, Strawberry Juice Strawberry lemonade, an easy summer drink made from strawberries and lemon.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients
Strawberries - 1 lb
Lemon - 1 
Honey or sugar - as needed.
Chilled water - as needed

Procedure

Wash the strawberries well, take a strawberry,trim the leafy edge and cut into small pieces.

Do the same for the remaining strawberries and add into the mixie/blender jar. Squeeze lemon juice into it.

Then add honey and grind into thick pulp,then add water as needed and again grind till it becomes frothy.

Serve chilled.

Related : How to make Strawberry Sorbet 

Related : How to make Strawberry Smoothie 

Notes:

• Depends on sweetness of strawberries, add more or less honey or sugar.
• Base on the tartness of berries, add more or less lemon juice.
• If preferred, add ice cubes while serving.
• For smooth lemonade, filter the juice after grinding.
  

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