Jaggery
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Jaggery is the traditional unrefined sugar of India. Although the word is used for the products of both sugarcane and the date palm tree, technically, jaggery refers solely to sugarcane sugar. The sugar made from the sap of the date palm is called gur, and is both more prized and less available outside of the districts where it is made. Hence, outside of these areas, sugarcane jaggery is sometimes called gur to increase its market value. The sago palm and coconut palm are also now tapped for producing jaggery in southern India. In Mexico and South America, similar sugarcane products are known as panela, or piloncillo.
All types of the sugar come in blocks or pastes of solidified concentrated sugar syrup heated up to 200°C. Traditionally, the syrup is made by boiling raw sugarcane juice or palm sap in a large shallow round-bottom vessel as shown here.
Jaggery is considered by some to be a particularly wholesome sugar and, unlike refined sugar, retains more mineral salts. Moreover, the process does not involve chemical agents. Indian Ayurvedic medicine considers jaggery to be beneficial in treating throat and lung infections; Sahu and Saxena found that in rats jaggery can prevent lung damage from particulate matter such as coal and silica dust (1994).
Jaggery is used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes across India and Sri Lanka. It is also a delicacy in its own right. The great Indian chef and cookbook author Madhur Jaffrey writes about a jaggery board, like a cheese board, as a type of dessert course in a Bengali dinner, with varieties of palm and sugar cane jaggeries offered, differing in taste, color, and solidity. Jaggery is also molded into novelty shapes as a type of candy. Other uses of jaggery include jaggery toffees and jaggery cake made with pumpkin preserve, cashew nuts and spices.
Jaggery is also considered auspicious in many parts of India, and is eaten raw before commencement of good work or any important new venture.
See also
References
Sahu, A. P. and Saxena, A. K (1994). Enhanced translocation of particles from lungs by jaggery. Environmental Health Perspectives, 102 Suppl 5, 211-214.External links
- [Study: "Enhanced Translocation of Particles from Lungs by Jaggery"] - A web copy of the study cited above.
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