"Avalo/ Amla- Kharik Panaka/ Gooseberry- Dry Dates Spiced Coolant" ... panak is a khatha- meetha- teekha drink often relished during festive days ... I have always loved giving my own twist to this awesome drink and they have tasted wonderful ... here is another concoction of panak i came up with addition of Avalo (amla/ gooseberry/ nellikayi) and Kharik (dried dates/ khajur) along with some other ingredients ... it tastes great and definitely Dil Mange More ... Yummilicious ...
** Panak is a delicious khatHa meetHa teekHa ie tangy sweet spicy drink prepared with jaggery/ goda and spices with addition of lemon/ nimbu juice and served chilled during festive times in temples or pendals where Idols are installed marking any festive celebrations. I have added both traditional and a few variations of the same done by me before here in my blog. I written in so much about this drink each time I made a post with variation that I am sure all of you have got to know my fascination towards the same. I will not run into more details about the history of the coolant as I will only be repeating. Those of you who wish to read can go through the common link shared at the bottom of this recipe and check out on the same.
** For this particular panak too I have used Amla/ Gooseberry that’s plenty in season now and is supposed to be a vault to good health. So do try adding them on to different dishes and enjoy them fresh as much as possible. The other ingredient used here to bring about sweetness to the drink is Kharik/ Kharook/ Dried Dates along with jaggery. In my home we always used the dates/ kajur but never the completely dried one’s ie kharik, though they are offered as naivedyam to God. As they are hard to chew on I just avoid them and used to pass it to hubby whenever someone offered me the same. I never bought them and it was always avoided though I bought other dry fruits and stocked them to have a handful a day.
** Recently I came across the health benefits of Kharik/ dried khajoor/ dates when there was a debate in our friends group with a nutritionist and the whole topic was on women’s issues. A very interesting and informative subject was the topic of discussion for a good 2 hours online and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was more so about eating and exercise habits for both maintaining a good health and peace of mind and in my coming posts I will keep sharing a few tips about the same. Kharik is good for muscle issues and as one ages the muscle both within the body and the external that are visible like that of arms, face, thighs etc. start sagging mainly due to lack of exercise and proper diet barring the age factor or other issues.
** Uterus issue is a common one faced by many women once the age of 50 yrs has been crossed, facing urine leaks etc. the reason being that the uterus muscle I believe gets sort of weakened. It was a lovely debate on many more such issues that we often face and it was advised that one should have one kharik a day in the morning on regular basis or the same should be included in some form for such muscular issues. Now I wish to state here that I am just mentioning the same without really endorsing it as I have said before and repeat I have absolutely no medical knowledge and if you have any such issues please visit your Dr. for the same and proper guidance, however I see no harm in consuming it as it is definitely nutritious.
** It was when I went to purchase the same to a newly opened exclusive dry fruit store that I came across so many lovely ingredients that I never knew were available. In my happiness I really went overboard in buying spree and was sorry about it only when I received the huge bill in my hand. I bought kharik cut into strips, and was surprised when the store keeper asked me if I would like to buy the powder too. I sheepishly asked him to show me the same and I was really surprised to see this sweet fine rava textured muddy color powder which he asked me to taste and it was superb. Well, I bought that too, and in my mind already started adding it to many dishes that I was all set to prepare. Well, for today it is this coolant Panak.
** Here is my own concoction of simple yet delicious recipe for "Avalo/ Amla- Kharik Panaka/ Gooseberry- Dry Dates Spiced Coolant" …. My own style …
** Clean, wash about 12-15 large sized Amla/ Avalo/ Gooseberry/ Nellikayi. The last time I prepared panak with amla I had pressure cooked them, this time I have not as some nutrients get lost in the process. Just slice off the edible portion and cut them into small pieces discarding the inner seed.
** Put the pieces in mixer grinder with 150-200 gms of grated jaggery (goda/ bella), 1 tblsp of pepper corns (miri), 4-5 whole green cardamom (yellu/ ellaichi), 1 tsp of kala namak (salt) 2 tblsp dry ginger (shunti) powder or 3 inch piece of fresh ginger cut into pieces, 2-3 tbslp of kharik (dry dates/ khajoor) powder and grind to a smooth paste with water.
** Once it is ground to a smooth paste add in 2-3 cups of water and using the pulse mode mix all again together in mixer. Remove and strain the juice through a muslin/ cotton cloth. Put the remaining residue collected in the cloth back into the mixer grinder again and grind with another cup or two of water, then add in another 2 cups of water and pulse all together.
** Remove, again strain as above adding it to the previous strained juice. In all you will get about 1-2 litrs of juice out of this. Now add in about 2-3 freshly squeezed lemon/ limbiyo/ nimboo juice of large lemons or 4-5 smaller ones and mix well. Put the prepared panak in fridge overnight to chill or if you need to serve it immediately the grind with chilled water.
** "Avalo/Amla- Kharik Panaka/ Gooseberry- Dry Dates Spiced Coolant" is done and ready to be served. In our community (GSB) Panak is offered as Naivedyam to God during festive days also, specially during Rama Navami and Krishna Janamshtami as per the tradition and then distributed among family and friends. You can do the same on any festive day or even on fasting days like Ekadashi, Sankashti etc. as it sorts of rejuvenates the body.
** Though it tastes best when served chilled in tall glasses with a few ice cubes added on, you can serve it also at room temperature or just slightly cold if you want to avoid drinking cold juices during winter/ monsoon season, though addition of pepper and ginger is supposed to be good to fight of cold and flu, but that is entirely left to you to serve as you wish.
** Definitely a lovely, healthy and nutritious coolant with added benefits of both kharik and amla which is a sources of Vitamin C along with other healthy properties. Do try this out as amla is in season now and are available almost everywhere round the world. Always make habit of having homemade drinks than colas as they are very harmful for health.
** Note : Again, check the consistency and the sweetness level of the panak and add in water as needed only. You can add in more jaggery if needed, but do not increase the kharik content as too much of the same is also not good and is best consumed in limits. Jaggery is rich in iron content so use the same and avoid sugar as much as possible.
** Note : I usually use a cotton/ muslin cloth for sieving this panak when amla is used and recommend the same, though you can use a fine stainless steel sieve too. Amla has a lot of fiber content and though it is good for the gut, in juices it is not at all pleasing when you relish the same, sieving through cloth takes care of that part unlike using of sieves.
** Note : I usually make panak into a very thick consistency as storing in refrigerator becomes easier and when serving I add in either some ice cubes or chilled water to bring to thinner consistency. The above measurements are assured to give you a very tasty-spicy panak which is sure to be loved by one and all and will serve almost 12 glasses of the same.
** Note : You can increase or decrease the amount of ingredients to adjust the taste as per your liking, however the above measuring will give a good strong great in taste panak. The taste of the panak always lies in the sting it imparts to the tongue when relishing it. So do try it in the given measurements and then make changes as per your desire.
** Given below is the common link for several recipes of “Panak”, please go through the link and choose that which you would love to try and enjoy with your family and friends …
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