Jaggery
Gur: unrefined sugar from boiled cane juice or palm sap, set into blocks — caramel and earthy.
caramel · earthy · molasses-like
What to do with it
Classics built on it
GujaratiUndhiyuA winter medley of flat beans, purple yam, sweet potato, baby aubergine and plantain, slow-cooked with fenugreek dumplings and a green masala of coconut and coriander.No one here has made it yetGujaratiDal dhokliPieces of spiced wholewheat dough simmered in a sweet-sour toor dal with peanuts, jaggery and lemon — a whole meal in one pot.No one here has made it yetGujaratiDabeliA soft bread roll split and stuffed with a sweet, hot potato filling, tamarind-date chutney, masala peanuts, pomegranate and sev, then toasted in butter.No one here has made it yetGujaratiSev tameta nu shaakTomatoes cooked down with garlic, chilli and a little jaggery into a sweet-sour gravy, with crisp gram-flour sev scattered over just before eating.No one here has made it yetGoanVindalooPork marinated in a paste of dried red chillies, garlic and spice ground in vinegar, then cooked slowly until sharp, rich and deep red.No one here has made it yetGoanSorpotelPork and pork liver boiled, diced small and cooked in a hot, sharp sauce of chilli, spice and vinegar — a Christmas and wedding dish, made days ahead.No one here has made it yetGoanKhatkhateA thick stew of many vegetables and toor dal in coconut, soured with tamarind and sharpened with tirphal — the dish of Goan Hindu festivals.No one here has made it yetSouth IndianSambarPigeon-pea lentils cooked with tamarind, vegetables and a roasted spice powder, then tempered — poured over rice, or with idli and dosa.No one here has made it yetSri LankanWatalappanA steamed custard of kithul jaggery, coconut milk and eggs, spiced with cardamom and nutmeg and topped with cashews.No one here has made it yet Kinds
- Cane gur
- Golden to brown; the Punjabi kind.
- Palm jaggery
- Darker, smokier; closer to palm sugar.
If you can't find it
Indian grocers, as gur.
The same weight
You lose little.
2Dark brown sugar
The same weight
You lose the earthy, mineral depth.
Knowing it
- Where to buy
- South Asian grocers. Dark muscovado is the nearest swap.
- Worth knowing
- Grate or shave it off the block; it dissolves quickly in warm liquid.
Kitchens that keep it in
Gujarat — western India, on the Arabian SeaGujaratiSweet, sour and gently hot: a largely vegetarian kitchen of gram flour, jaggery and buttermilk, of steamed and fried snacks, and a thali with a little of everything.9 classicsGoa — the Konkan coast of western IndiaGoanCoconut, chilli and vinegar: a coastal kitchen where Konkani fish curry and rice meet pork, bread and sweets from four and a half centuries of Portuguese rule.9 classicsSouth India — the southern peninsula, between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of BengalSouth IndianRice, lentils, coconut and tamarind: fermented batters, sour broths and a sizzle of mustard seed and curry leaves, from the tiffin that starts the day to the feast on a banana leaf.10 classics More seasonings and ferments