Drink for This Week: Ambassadors Clubhouse's Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore has it that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his cricket team would succeed over a touring English side. For a competitive edge, he threw a lavish party the night before the match, where he presented his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These were incredibly generous four-finger measure whisky servings, historically measured from little finger to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, leaving them extremely hungover and, inevitably, defeated the next day. Thus, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned takes its cue from Singh's concoction. Here, we offer it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a household setting.
Patiala Peg
Makes 1 litre, to serve 10-12 portions.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (about ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Put all the ingredients in a big container. Pour in 130g water, mix thoroughly, then transfer it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as a few weeks.
For serving, dispense roughly 90ml of the infused whisky into a short glass packed with ice (ideally one large cube). Drink promptly. If you're feeling traditional, you could use the four-finger measure for authenticity.
