Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore claims that during 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was adamant that his cricket team would succeed over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party the night before the match, where he served his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These were notoriously substantial four-finger whisky servings, customarily gauged from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players partook excessively, leaving them terribly hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day. Thus, the story of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. At the restaurant, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, serving 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g Scotch whisky blend
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Instructions
Place all the ingredients in a big container. Include 130g water, mix to combine, then transfer it in the refrigerator. It can be stored for as long as 21 days.
For serving, pour approximately 90ml of the infused whisky into a rocks glass containing ice (preferably one big block). Enjoy straight away. To honour tradition, you could measure it in by hand instead.
