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Kithul Jaggery is made
of treacle harvested off the variety of Palm by the name of Caryota urens. This
is a species of flowering plant in the palm family from the Indian Subcontinent
and Southeast Asia where they grow in fields and rainforest clearings.
Sri
Lankans have been harvesting this endemic kithul tree for jaggery since
centuries ago. The palm is mentioned in numerous historical records including
the Ummagga Jathaka. The islanders learned early that they could harvest the
flow of sugary sap, called thelijja in Sinhalese, in the floret and boil it
down into a delicious treacle or jaggery (hakuru in Sinhalese).
They
refined the art of making jaggery that they were able to prepare five different
varieties of the sweet: sudu (white) hakuru, a rare, soft and sweet pale
jaggery made of refined sap; the rock-like wax or iti hakuru, prepared with
slightly fermented sap; madol hakuru, which is soft and easily soluble; the
grainy weli hakuru, traditionally prepared by pouring treacle into a pouch made
of areca nut leaves and drying it over a fireplace, and the very common kithul
hakuru, infused with subtle woody and smoky flavours. Kithul jaggery is a food
fit for royalty.
USES
Kithul jaggery is the sweetener of Sri Lankan
gastronomy. It is kithul jaggery and no other that takes pride of place as the
perfect sweet accompaniment to the auspicious dish of milk rice on festive
occasions. It is the sugar substitute to be nibbled on with a cup of herbal
tea, the sweetener with congee and the honey in the rich dessert wattalappam.
More recently, it has become the flavour of modern sweet treats like cake and
ice cream, available in large supermarket chains and confectionery stores.
BENEFITS
Sri Lanka's indigenous
system of medicine - Ayurveda - treats kithul jaggery as a very rich food,
which can make you gain weight in a healthy way. Ayurveda posits that if you
are thin and weak, you will gain weight by eating kithul jaggery, but never gain
weight in excess. Rich in calcium, minerals, salts and fiber, this sweet is
slower to digest, thus it doesn't provide the rush of energy that refined sugar
delivers. Like its South American counterpart, panela, it is said to be a
source of iron and vitamins.
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