Jaggery

gur

Sugar with its soul still in it.

What it is

Jaggery is unrefined sugar — cane juice (or palm sap) boiled down and set into blocks, retaining the molasses and minerals that refining strips out. It is deep, warm and caramel-rich, quite unlike white sugar, and used where that fuller flavour is wanted. (The date-palm winter jaggery, nolen gur, is its own prized thing.)

Where it comes from

Made across the subcontinent from sugarcane (and from palm), jaggery is the older, less-processed sweetener, used in sweets, dals, chutneys and drinks. Cane jaggery is the everyday kind; date-palm nolen gur is the seasonal Bengali speciality.

What it's called

Jaggery · gur (Hindi) · gud. Cane jaggery is the common form; date-palm is nolen gur/khejur gur.

In the kitchen

Grated or melted into sweets, chutneys, tamarind sauces, and even some dals and sambars for a rounding sweetness. Its molasses depth does what white sugar can't. In Bengal, the winter date-palm gur is prized above cane for its scent.

What we know about the claims

Jaggery keeps some minerals that refined sugar loses, which is the basis of its 'better than sugar' reputation — true in a narrow sense, but it is still sugar. Enjoy it for flavour, not health.

Choosing and buying

Everywhere in South Asian grocers (UK and US), as blocks or granules. Cane jaggery for everyday; seek date-palm nolen gur for Bengali winter sweets.