“Happy Diwali greeting “is the talk of the town, as Diwali is round the corner. Sweets are synonymous with Diwali. Almost every house hold gets ready to grab their quota of sweet delicacies. Avoiding sweets is a tough Job, at least try to substitute the sugar that is added in the sweets with the Jaggery which will provide the same sweetness without causing much harm like sugar. A few well know benefits of consuming jaggery are: 1. It helps in purifying blood & prevents blood disorders. 2. It aids in maintaining a healthy digestive system and eases constipation. 3. It is rich in Antioxidants and is a good source of iron. 4. It strengthens the muscles, bones and is good for the skin. 5. Substitute it for refined sugar in tea as it is low in calories. Diwali special sweets of Tamil Nadu are many, but few are traditional both in preparation &consumption. Therati pal, Suyyam & Appam are special ones & they are to be consumed after the oil bath (GANGA SNANAM) Therati pal is a sweet preparation made with milk & jaggery. Boil the milk & keep stirring till it turns cream in colour & reduce it to half the quantity, then add the jaggery (it should powdered with help of a knife or a rolling pin). Keep stirring till the jaggery is mixed well with the thick milk. Add powdered cardamom & ghee. When it reaches a thick consistency, (like a halwa) remove it from fire, let it cool & transfer it to a air tight container. It can be stored for more than three to four days. It can also be refrigerated if needed. SUYYAM: This is a yummy sweet mostly enjoyed by people of all age groups. The ingredients required are coconuts, jaggery, ghee & powdered cardamom. Grate coconuts & with some ghee, fry it in a pan. Keep aside. Add jaggery in the ratio of 1:2. One grated coconut = Two powdered jaggery. Add jaggery in a pan and pour water, when it gets dissolved, filter it to avoid any impurities and pour it in the pan. Keep stirring it, till it gets string like consistency. Pour the grated coconuts, add ghee & cardamom. Mix it well and when it reaches a thick consistency, put off fire & leave it to cool. Then make small round balls & serve.
I wasn't aware of these benefits from jaggery. Just was visiting and tried to get some coconut jaggery my fave and didn't have any luck since its getting rare.
Jaggery is mainly made from sugar cane from what I understand, there are other kinds as well one being from coconut, my husband is from Mangalore over there the coconut kind comes round like a crumpet and same thickness (sorry I'm not Indian so I don't have a good comparison). We all love the coconut kind and it tastes similar to coconut sugar we buy in the west but the jaggery tastes better.
