Jigarthanda Recipe

Jigarthanda Recipe

AuthorAnkita

RatingDifficultyIntermediate

An Outlook On Jigarthanda Recipe :

Jigardanda is one of the enticing cold beverage that originated from the Indian Subcontinent. It is the signature drink of Madurai, a famous city in Tamil Nadu. It is a refreshing drink made of milk, badam pisin, (almond gum) caramelized sugar, ice-cream and nannari (sarasaparilla) syrup.

Mughals who invaded the south part of India found this Jigardanda. During the Pandiya kingdom, Jigardanda was brought into existence along with the Moghul cuisine with an array of other exotic dishes. Over the past few decades Jigardanda has made its place in popular restaurants and all juice shops and road side outlets in and around Tamil Nadu. As this drink cools our entire

system, it is named so as the Hindi word Jigardanda means the thing which cools your heart. It is known both for its fabulous taste and its amazing  health benefits. It almost resembles the North Indian Falooda in taste and as well as in texture. Almond gum is the key ingredient that differentiates jigardanda from Falooda. Another major difference is that the texture of Falooda is quite solid while the jigardanda is semi-solid in its texture and best suited to drink than to scoop and eat.

Let us see the method of preparing the original version of Madurai Special Jigardhanda.

Ingredients Required To Make Jigarthanda Recipe

Thick milk :

When we boil milk for a long time, it will get reduced to a thick condensed milk which is so rich in taste and color.

Milk ice cream :

Milk ice cream is readily available in all ice-cream parlors or you can prepare it at home.

Badam pisin :

It is the dried gum of sweet almond tree which secretes from its bark. In Tamil, you call it as `gondhu` or `pisin` which means paste. When this gum is soaked in water for an hour or two, you get a jelly like substance and that is called as pisin. It is very cool for body when consumed, and it has other medicinal properties too. Children who are very thin and puny can take this for weight gain.

Nannari syrup :

Nannari is the Tamil name of saasaparilla root and it is also known as sugandi in Sanskrit, which means sweet smell. Added to its alluring aroma, it has some medicinal values too. It is a natural coolant and it also prevents

sun strokes. It is available in all organic and Ayurveda stores. It is also called as nannari sharbat.

Caramelized sugar : 

It is a light orange confectionery byproduct got from heating sugar. It is used as a flavoring agent in desserts, puddings, chocolates and custards.

How To Make Jigarthanda Recipe

Some Ideas And Alternatives To Make Jigarthanda Recipe

1. Thick milk can be prepared overnight and stored in the refrigerator along with the ice cream.

2. If you do not get nannari syrup, you can add rose essence or roohafza ( a concentrated squash made of rose water and kewra).

3. Similarly, you can use china grass instead of badam pisin for a different flavor and it gives almost a similar texture.

4. You can even garnish the Jigardanda with a dollop of chilled basundhi to make it all the more palatable.

5. Likewise, you add also add a teaspoon of vanilla essence to bring variation.

6. Similarly, you can use sugar syrup instead of caramelized sugar if you want to prepare it instantly.

7. You get Nannari syrup and almond gum commonly in all Indian stores.

8. You can store the remaining badam pisin in the refrigerator and use it for three to four days to make sharbhat or any cool drink.

9. Use a thick bottomed saucepan to prepare caramelized sugar as it will get stuck easily.

10. In case, if it gets stuck in the pan, just heat the pan with some water for a few minutes. The caramel sediments will come off from the pan with water and you can wash it off.