Jaggery Benefits: These days, finding the right and authentic product has become very difficult. It takes a village to make sure that the product is pure and good. And so is finding the right and good quality jaggery or gur. Jaggery is a traditionally unrefined form of sugar and is well known for its health benefits: helps excellent digestion, is a rich source of iron and Vitamin C, helps in the circulation of blood and a lot more. Jaggery also helps in keeping our bodies warm during extremely chill days. But how do we know that what gur we are consuming is authentic or is not mixed?
Adulteration has become a child’s play. It is now easy to cheat and fool consumers by selling a lower quality product at a sky-rocketing price. Not only this, but adulteration has also led to many health issues and unhygienic conditions. But we have got you covered!
Here’s an easy way to identify authentic jaggery and ways to check the purity:
- What Exactly is Jaggery or Gur?
Jaggery is made out of sugarcane by boiling raw and concentrated sugarcane juice. It is used as a sweetener. Sugarcane juice is boiled for a few hours, water is added to the moulds, and then, gives time to cool down and harden. This is also a healthy alternative to white sugar as gur has a superior nutritional profile. What not to forget is, the calories content of both gur and white sugar is the same. Jaggery is made through the boiling of sugarcane whereas white sugar goes through several processes and one of them is crystallisation before it is packed for consumption
- What is the best season to consume Jaggery?
Jaggery produces a lot of heat, hence health experts have advised and recommended consuming jaggery only during winter. During heated seasons, problems of stomach problems can arise. Hence, it is better to have minimal consumption of jaggery during warm seasons.
- How to check the purity of jaggery?
“Generally a good quality jaggery should have the right colour, good flavour and hardness,” says Chef Reetu Uday Kugaji, the Culinary Expert and Food Blogger. It is very important to check for purity whenever you go out to buy jaggery.
- A few of Chef Reetu’s suggestions are here:
- Taste a piece of jaggery. If it tastes slightly salty, then it indicates that a high concentration of mineral salts is involved. The easy way out is, the older the jaggery gets, the saltier it becomes.
- If you taste any sort of bitterness, it means that jaggery has gone through the caramelisation during the boiling process.
- If you find crystals, it means that jaggery has gone through other processes of sweetness too. Look out!
- The Colour of the jaggery is dark brown. The colour also plays a role in determining purity. If the gur appears in yellowish, it may have undergone chemical treatment.
- It is always recommended to buy hard jaggery, it means that there are no additives added during the process of boiling the sugarcane juice.
Make sure to keep these points in mind before you go out for jaggery shopping!