Jaggery recipes
Jaggery is a completely unrefined sugar made from sugar cane juice or palm sap that is reduced (cooked down) and set into blocks. It has a wonderful, rich flavour, somewhere between molasses and caramel depending on the quality and season.
Pongal is Sri Lanka's version of rice pudding. It contains lentils as well as rice, and the sweetness comes from jaggery – a block of unrefined cane sugar which is available from many Asian grocery shops and large supermarkets.
More jaggery recipes
Buyer's guide
Jaggery can be found in most supermarkets with a good Asian section. The darker the colour, the stronger the flavour. Jaggery from the date palm tree is a winter specialty and quite rare. It is prized in the regions it is found and used to sweeten sweets. Muscovado sugar works well as an alternative.
