Jaggery

Jaggery is a traditional kind of sugar made without using machines to separate the parts. It comes from the juice of sugar cane and sometimes from date or palm sap. Unlike regular sugar, jaggery keeps the molasses and crystals together, which gives it a rich, dark brown color.

People in many parts of the world enjoy jaggery, including the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil, and Africa. It is used in cooking and as a natural sweetener in many recipes.

Jaggery contains a good amount of sucrose, invert sugars, and moisture, along with other natural materials like wood ash, proteins, and fibers from the sugar cane. It is very similar to muscovado, a type of sugar popular in Portuguese, British, and French cuisine.

Etymology

The word "jaggery" comes from Portuguese words like jágara and jagra. These Portuguese words were borrowed from Tamil and Malayalam languages, where the word for sugar is similar. It also relates to an ancient Sanskrit word for sugar, showing how the name traveled through different cultures over time. Jaggery is also a related form, or doublet, of the word "sugar."

Origins and production

Harvesting sugar cane without pre-burn – the abundant waste on the ground will be irrigated to release nutrients for the next crop

Jaggery is made from the products of sugarcane and the toddy palm tree. The sugar made from the sap of the date palm is special but less common outside the areas where it is produced. The toddy palm is used for making jaggery in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, syrup from kithul (Caryota urens) trees is often used for jaggery production. All types of jaggery come in blocks or pastes of solidified concentrated sugar syrup, heated to about 200 °C (392 °F). Traditionally, the syrup is made by boiling raw sugarcane juice or palm sap in large, shallow, round-bottomed vessels. The juice is heated until it thickens, then poured into a shallow pan to cool and solidify into jaggery.

Uses

Jaggery is a sweet ingredient used in many dishes across South Asia. In countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Iran, jaggery adds sweetness to both sweet and savory foods. It is often added to soups like sambar and rasam, and lentil dishes such as dāl, especially in Gujarati cuisine. In Sri Lanka, jaggery is made from palm or coconut syrup and has different names depending on the type of palm used.

Jaggery preparation by heating juice in the vessel on furnace

In Maharashtra, jaggery is known as "gul" and is used in many dishes, including desserts like tilgul during Makar Sankranti. It is also used in festivals like Ugadi in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, where it helps balance spicy flavors. In Kerala, jaggery is a key ingredient in sweet dishes like payasam.

In Myanmar, jaggery called htanyet is made from toddy palm syrup and enjoyed as a sweet treat, often with tea. Jaggery is also used to make toffees, cakes, and even helps flavor foods and fabrics in some places.

Nutrition

Nomenclature

Jaggery has many names around the world, reflecting its long history and wide use. In the Indian subcontinent, it is known by various terms such as guṛ in Hindi, Bengali, and Bhojpuri, and vellam in Tamil and Malayalam. It is also called śarkkara or cakkara in Malayalam, and sakkarai in Tamil.

Making jaggery (gur) in Punjab

In Southeast Asia, jaggery has different names too. In Cambodia, it is called Skor tnaot in Khmer. Myanmar uses Htanyet for toddy palm jaggery and Kyan Tha Kar for sugarcane jaggery. Malaysia calls it Gula melaka or Gula merah, while Indonesia uses Gula jawa and Gula merah. The Philippines has many names for it, including Koya-Koya in Ilocano and Panocha in Philippine Spanish. Thailand refers to it as namtan tanot for palm jaggery and namtan oi for cane sugar. In Vietnam, it is known as Đường thốt nốt.

Elsewhere, jaggery is called Raspadura in Cuba and Panama, Rapadura in Brazil, and Panela in Central and South America. In Mexico, it is known as Piloncillo, and in Peru as Chancaca. Japan calls it Kokuto, and in Chinese it is Hóng táng or hēi táng.