Jaggery or gur is one of those food items that we think we know but are never quite sure exactly what it is. If we call it palm sugar, the picture becomes slightly clearer but not wholly so.
For the record, jaggery is unrefined sugar from the jaggery palm.
This recipe is from journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s The Settlers Cookbook, her memoir on the little known Ugandan-Indian diaspora that settled and prospered in east Africa in the 19th century until Idi Amin expelled them in the 1970s.
Ingredients:
4 tbsp jaggery
4 tbsp butter
Heat up equal amounts of jaggery and butter. As soon as it starts to sizzle, take if off the heat. Immediately spread over warm chapatis or stir into a freshly made dhal. If the spread is left to cool for about 20 minutes it will turn into a delicious fudge to accompany some tea.
Ken Doherty is a chef and journalist. Visit his blog at assassinationcustard.blogspot.com
