Jaggery

Jaggery (also transliterated as jaggeree ) is traditional unrefined sugar ( cane sugar ), which is used throughout South and Southeast Asia.

Origin

Although the term jaggery is used both for the product of the sugar cane as well as the date palm, the term refers solely to the cane-sugar. The palm sugar, which is made from the juice of the date palm is not only expensive, but also less common outside the areas in which it is made. The sago palm and coconut palm are tapped in South India for sugar production also. In Mexico and South America, similar sugarcane products are also known under the name of panela, piloncillo or rapadura ( Brazil).

All types of sugars are in blocks of solidified paste syrup concentrates, which were heated up to 200 ° C, on the market. Traditionally, the syrup is made by boiling pure sugar cane juice or palm sap in a large vessel with round bottom ( see photo).

Jaggery is considered by some to be healthy and it contains, unlike refined sugar, more mineral salts. In addition, for the operation are not chemical agents needed. Indian Ayurvedic medicine appreciates Jaggery because of the benefits in the healing of throat and lung infections; Sahu and Saxena found in animal experiments with rats found that jaggery lung damage from particulate materials, such as Can prevent carbon and silicon dust. Gandhi believed that jaggery was healthier than refined sugar because he did not went so quickly into the blood. Simply he used it in his own personal diet and recommended that the benefits in his own goat's milk diet ( just like all other diets / eating habits ).

Jaggery is used as an ingredient in both sweet and savory dishes across India and Sri Lanka. For example, sometimes a pinch of jaggery for sambar, rasam and other gravies is added, which are staple food in India. Jaggery is also pottages ( Dal ) added to make the dish sweeter and compensate for the sharp, sour and salty taste, especially in Gujarat, ( gaur ), it is added to the food. Jaggery is also molded into new shapes and sold as candy. Other uses are for example Jaggery toffees and jaggery cake that is made with pumpkin preserves, cashew nuts and spices. Jaggery is also used in the preparation of liquor are used.

Jaggery is considered in many parts of India as an auspicious and is consumed raw before the start of good work and before any major new risk.

The district Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh has the largest jaggery market in India, followed by Anakapalli in Visakhapatnam district in Andhra Pradesh. These are the largest and the second largest in the world.

In Myanmar, jaggery is, there also known as Htanyet extracted from the syrup of Caryota. In central Myanmar and around Bagan ( Pagan ), toddy syrup is obtained solely for the purpose of jaggery production. The transparent white syrup is heated until it is golden brown and then cut into bite -sized pieces. Htanyet, which literally means " toddy lick " is called, is regarded as sweet and eaten by both children and adults, usually in the evening with a cup of green tea. It is known locally as Burmese chocolate. Toddypalmenjaggery is sometimes mixed with coconut chips, plum puree or sesame, depending on the area. This type of jaggery is also found in the cuisine of Myanmar again, often to add color and enrich the food.

In addition to the use as feed Jaggery is also used to flavor the tandoor oven.

Jaggery names

• Bella in Kannada
• Bellam in Telugu
• Chakkara (made from palm wine) in Malayalam
• Gaur in Gujarati
• Gud to Gor in Hindi and Punjabi
• Gula Melaka in Malaysia
• Gur in Urdu, Bengali and Assamese
• Hakuru in Sinhalese
• Htanyet in Burmese
• Panela and piloncillo in Latin America
• Panocha or Panutsa in the Philippines
• Rapadou in Haiti
• Sharkara in Sanskrit
• Sharkara (made from sugar cane ) in Malayalam
• Valle Bella on Tulu
• Vellam in Tamil