Cocktail of the Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Folklore suggests that in 1920, the Maharaja of Patiala, was set that his cricket team would win over a touring English side. To secure an advantage, he organized a grand party the night before the match, at which he offered his guests the famous Patiala pegs. These are incredibly large four-finger whisky servings, traditionally poured from pinky to index finger. Unsurprisingly, the English players overindulged, resulting in them being extremely hungover and, consequently, vanquished the next day. In this way, the legend of the Patiala peg was born.
This Punjabi kind-of old fashioned draws inspiration from that original concoction. At the restaurant, we serve it from a specially crafted large-format bottle, but we've adapted the instructions to make it more suitable for a home kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Makes 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 (about ⅕ tsp)
- A pinch of salt
- 2g xanthan gum
Preparation
Combine everything in a sizeable jug. Include 130g water, mix to combine, then place it in the fridge. You can store it for as long as 21 days.
To serve, pour about 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a short glass filled with ice (preferably one big block). Drink straight away. For a traditional touch, you could use the four-finger measure instead.
