Cocktail for This Week: The Patiala Peg – Recipe
Tale suggests that back in 1920, Bhupinder Singh, was determined that his team would win over a touring English squad. For a competitive edge, he organized a splendid party on the eve of the match, at which he offered his guests the notorious Patiala pegs. These are famously generous four-finger measure whisky servings, traditionally poured from pinky to index finger. Predictably, the English players partook excessively, leaving them extremely the worse for wear and, inevitably, defeated the following day. And so, the story of the Patiala peg was born.
This take on a kind-of old fashioned is inspired by Singh's drink. In our establishment, we present it from a bespoke large-format bottle, but we've adapted the recipe to make it better suited for a household kitchen.
The Patiala Peg Recipe
Yields 1 litre, to serve 10-12 people.
Ingredients
- 725g blended scotch whisky
- 130g simple syrup
- 6g Angostura aromatic bitters (about 1⅓ tsp)
- 1g orange bitters (approximately ⅕ tsp)
- A dash of salt
- 2g xanthan gum powder
Preparation
Place everything in a large bottle. Include 130g water, stir until fully incorporated, then place it in the fridge. It can be stored for as long as three weeks.
For serving, dispense approximately 90ml of the Patiala peg mixture into a old fashioned glass filled with ice (traditionally one big block). Serve promptly. To honour tradition, you could pour it using your fingers as they did.
