Jaggery, gud and shakkar: what they are and how to choose.

What is jaggery (gud)?

Jaggery is unrefined sugar made by boiling fresh sugarcane juice until almost all the water has gone and what is left sets solid. In Hindi it is gud (गुड़), often written gur; in other parts of India it is bellam, vellam, bella or gul. The process has no centrifuge and no refining step, so the molasses — and the minerals that come with it — stay in.

That is the whole difference from white sugar. Refined sugar is jaggery's starting material with everything except sucrose removed. Jaggery keeps the iron, magnesium and potassium of the cane, along with the caramel and mineral flavour that make a dal or a chai taste rounder.

What is shakkar?

Shakkar (शक्कर) is jaggery in loose, powdered form. Across Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana it is made by stirring the thickened cane juice as it cools so it breaks into granules instead of setting into a block, or by drying and milling set gud. You will also see it sold as jaggery powder, gud powder or desi khand.

Shakkar and gud are the same food in different shapes. Powder dissolves quickly, so it suits drinks and baking; a block keeps longer and is better for simmering, grating and eating as it is.

Why is some jaggery pale and some dark?

Cane juice carries impurities that have to be lifted out before it sets. The traditional way is a plant clarifier — usually the mucilage of okra or wild bhindi — that binds the impurities into a scum which is skimmed off by hand. It works, but it leaves the jaggery a natural amber to dark brown.

Dark gud sells more slowly than light gud, so much of the market jaggery is whitened with sulphur dioxide and sodium hydrosulphite ("hydros"). The result is pale, uniform and flatter in flavour, and it can carry sulphite residues.

How to spot sulphur-free jaggery

• Colour: amber, golden-brown or dark brown. A bright lemon-yellow block is the clearest sign of chemical clarification.
• Taste: caramel, molasses and a faint saltiness. Sulphured gud tastes of plain sweetness, sometimes with a sharp aftertaste.
• Texture: slightly sticky in humid weather. Real jaggery has no anti-caking agent, so it draws moisture from the air.
• Label: look for "sulphur-free" or "chemical-free" and a named origin. indiGUD is made in the Bijnor cane belt of Uttar Pradesh and every pouch carries a batch code.

Is jaggery healthier than sugar?

Jaggery is still a sugar, and it has roughly the same calories as white sugar spoon for spoon. What it adds is everything refining takes away: small amounts of iron, magnesium and potassium, and a fuller flavour that often means you use less. It is a better sugar, not a health food — and anyone managing diabetes should treat it exactly like sugar.

How to use gud and shakkar

• Stir a teaspoon of shakkar into chai or filter coffee instead of sugar.
• Swap jaggery powder 1:1 for white sugar in cakes, cookies and pancakes.
• Drop a cube of gud into dal, sambar or rasam while it simmers.
• Melt gud with ghee for til laddoos, chikki and gajak in winter.
• Break off a small piece after a meal, the way it has always been eaten in India.

How to store jaggery

Keep gud and shakkar in an airtight jar in a cool, dry cupboard, away from the stove. In the monsoon, a jar with a tight lid is the difference between free-flowing powder and a single lump. If it does clump, it has not spoiled — break it up or warm it gently. Stored well, jaggery powder keeps for about a year and blocks for longer.