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| Edited By: Yogesh Pawar |Source: DNA |Updated: May 27, 2018, 07:35 AM IST
Jaggery (gur) has been cultivated in India for thousands of years. Known as s´arkarã (in Sanskrit), it was the only sugar known to the subcontinent, even reaching as far as other parts of Asia, and Africa. Ayurvedic texts dating back to over 5,000 years mention its benefits: boosting blood purification, improving digestion, and enhancing bone and pulmonary health. It was the Portuguese who discovered the ingredient in Kerala in the late 1600s. From the Malayalam cakkarã, they rechristened it xagarã, which later became jaggery.
In Europe, locals thought it inferior to sugar and described it as mascabado/muscovado (Spanish/Portuguese for 'to despise') to describe what the white man still likes to think is "unrefined brown sugar with a strong molasses flavour."
However, it is technically called non-centrifugal cane sugar because it is made by heating and evaporating sugarcane juice. It has natural too-minute-to-be-seen-by-the-human-eye anhedral microcrystals, along with residues of molasses, iron, magnesium, calcium and other electrolytes. While the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations recognised it as a unique product only in 1964, it took the World Customs Organisation (WCO) another 43 years to accept "cane sugar obtained without centrifugation," as unique.
Jaggery has traditionally been made both from sugarcane juice or palm sap – each with its own distinctive taste and texture.
This jaggery is made by crushing and extracting sugarcane juice. This is poured in huge metal vats laid on open fires (fuelled by bagasse in India).
Lime is added to the boiling juice so that specks of fibre in the liquid rise to the top to be skimmed off. This flaky layer while hardened (called kaakvi) is relished by some and even used as a sweetener for special dishes. The thick golden juice is reduced to 1/3rd, stirred continuously and checked for a single thread drip. Once it reaches the required consistency, it is set aside to cool and become semi-solid. And then poured into moulds of different sizes to harden and set, tapped out, packed and stored away for sale.
It is the largest jaggery producer in India. And most of it comes from Western Maharashtra – Kolhapur might as well be called the jaggery capital of India. The melt-in-the-mouth golden-yellowish jaggery from here commands a high price across markets.
It has the smallest region under sugarcane cultivation, but the jaggery here (although of similar variety as Uttar Pradesh) has a strong unique flavour. Once hardened in moulds, jaggery lumps are exposed to smoke in specially built machaans high above a wood fire. This allows them a longer shelf-life. Locals believe the smoky flavour keeps ants at bay.
This is the largest sugarcane producer in India. While much of it is diverted to sugar production, the state comes second in jaggery production. Jaggery from UP is a darker shade of brown, drier and takes longer to melt. It is richer in iron content.
Regions on the borders of Maharashtra like Belgaum, Dharwad, Hubli and Bagalkot share the same rich dark alluvial soil and waters from the same river basins. They grow the same sugarcane found in Maharashtra, producing similar jaggery.
As you move down South in Karnataka into the Cauvery basin going into Tamil Nadu, the sugar cane is darker (purple-black) and has closer knots. This yields a really dark jaggery with a unique taste that is preferred in medicinal formulations. It is one of the hardest jaggeries and adds flavour to the sweet pongals and payasams of the region.
Palm tree sap is used to make jaggery in various parts of India. Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Southern coastal Karnataka, Goa, Kerala and some parts of coastal Tamil Nadu have all had an indigenous tradition of palm jaggery. Depending on the local variety of palm, each region has its own jaggery. Despite the advent of cheaper sugarcane jaggery, palm jaggery is considered superior both medicinally and nutritionally. Given the effort involved in making it, it often sells for 3-4 times the price of sugarcane jaggery.
It is the date palm sap that is used to make jaggery in West Bengal along with coconut palm (Narikeler gur). Called pataali gur, it is used to bring a unique flavour to the wide array of dishes made in this state, which arguably has the largest sweet tooth in India. A palm jaggery seller was the protagonist in Bengali litterateur Narendranath Mitra's Ras, which was adapted into a Hindi film Saudagar starring Amitabh Bachchan and Nutan. The Santal tribal regions of the state also use the palmyra palm sap to make jaggery.
The palmyra palm (from which neera is extracted) is grown across India. But the fresh toddy tapped from its flowers is used in the tribal hinterlands to make jaggery. The fermented sap is also consumed for its intoxicating qualities.
The Nipa palm is native to the tropical coastline regions and even thrives in slushy mangrove-like environment. Palm sugar is made from the sugar-rich sap in some parts of Kerala particularly in the backwaters. It is also derived from the coconut palm, which grows abundantly in the state.
Along with sugarcane jaggery, Tamil Nadu also produces palm sugar jaggery. Although production quantities are no match for Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, here too the fishing communities in the coastal regions tap local palmyra and coconut palms to make jaggery in mounds. Traditional siddha medicine, which has to be made with or unfailingly consumed with jaggery.
Called madachem godd, the jaggery here is something locals swear by. Many Christmas goodies are also made using coconut palm sap. A mix of this molten jaggery with grainy ghee from Belgaum spread over rice pancakes is the stuff many slurpy dreams are made.
