Cocktail This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Legend has it that in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was set that his cricket team would win over a visiting English team. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the legendary Patiala pegs. These are incredibly generous four-finger whisky servings, traditionally poured from pinky to forefinger. As expected, the English players partook excessively, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, inevitably, defeated the following day. In this way, the myth of the Patiala peg came to be.
This Punjabi spin on the old fashioned is inspired by that original drink. At the restaurant, we serve it from a bespoke five-litre bottle, but we've adjusted the recipe to make it easier for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Produces 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended Scotch
- 130g sugar syrup (1:1)
- 6g Angostura bitters (approximately 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange-flavoured bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A small pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Instructions
Combine everything in a big container. Include 130g water, mix thoroughly, then place it in the fridge. You can store it for up to a few weeks.
To serve, measure out approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass packed with ice (traditionally one large cube). Serve straight away. To honour tradition, you could use the four-finger measure as they did.
