Share
Jaggery is a natural sweetener made out of the unrefined, extracted juice of sugarcane. The extracted juice is filtered, boiled, concentrated, and cooled down without using conventional methods. Therefore, it is in its most natural form and remarkably beneficial during the winter due to its warm potency.
During winter, the use of jaggery can be seen in most Indian culinary cultures, where they use several sweets, curries, and chutneys to make the meal warmer and more wholesome. Several states in India, such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orisa, Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, use different forms of jaggery in their everyday meals to give them a signature taste that can't be found elsewhere.
Jaggery is a versatile ingredient that adds a deep, sweet, and earthy flavour to dishes. It has a rich, caramel-like taste with subtle hints of molasses. When used in cooking, it can enhance the overall flavour profile of a dish, adding depth and complexity. In addition to its sweetness, jaggery can also add a slight hint of bitterness, making it a versatile ingredient in both sweet and savoury recipes.
The most iconic Indian dishes, such as maharashtrian dal palak, gujarati kadhi, and mughlai zarda, feature jaggery as the most unique element, which gives the dish a completely different taste.
• Morning Tea With Jaggery
There is a separate fanbase of chai lovers for gud wali chai. Jaggery, being a natural sweetener, retains the original tints of tea flavour and doesn't destroy its depth and flavour profile. Unlike refined sugar, which overshadows the taste of tea, jaggery elevates it to the next level and also provides warmth and nutritional benefits to the body.
• Shreds Of Jaggery In Morning Breakfast Or Brunch
Several breakfast quick meals, such as porridge, oats, and pudding, can be converted into a more filling, energising, and delicious meal by making use of jaggery as a sweetener. In meals such as upma, dosa, sambhar, and chutney, you can use jaggery as a sweet hint to complement the salty and savoury taste of the dish while also making it wholesome.
Also Read: 6 Benefits Of Consuming Jaggery Everyday
• Lunch Meals With Jaggery
A typical Indian lunch consists of a range of different meals that start with roti sabji and end with dal chawal. Using little jaggery shreds in all of these meals brings everything together harmoniously and adds a sweet hint, which balances the salt in dishes and adds a unique depth. Gujarati cuisine features gud in every dish to nullify the taste of khara pani or salt water, that is common in coastal and dry regions. It is also adopted in several parts of Maharashtra to fuse all the flavours of spices together.
• Jaggery In Salads
Jaggery, when used as a salad dressing, enhances the overall flavour of the vegetables used in the salad with a unique caramelly and satisfying twist. Adding jaggery as a dressing or just using some bits of its shred in your salads will turn the veggies into a delightful feast.
• Evening Snacks With Jaggery
Several iconic Indian snacks, such as til gud ka laddo, peanut chikki, gulgula, malpua, and kheer, use jaggery as a characteristic element and have been loved in Indian households for several generations. Traditionally, Indian snacks that are made with jaggery are also used in sweets made for pooja and festive rituals to signify their importance in our culture. Jaggery is most widely used in winter sweets due to its warm nature, which helps our body sustain itself in chilly weather.
• Dinner meals with jaggery
You can make several dinner recipes with jaggery, such as rassam, bean sabji, or any Indian curry, along with rice, roti, and desserts with a hint of jaggery to combine earthy tones of grains and spices and add a sweet undertone to every dish.
