Jaggery

Gudh







Description:
This coarse unrefined sugar is made from the sap of various palm trees or from sugarcane juice. Jaggery is not purified and therefore has all the quality of the juice itself. It comes in several forms; the two most popular being a soft honeybutter texture and a dark solid cakelike form.

Flavor/Aroma:
Jaggery has a sweet winey fragrance and flavor that lends distinction to whatever food it embellishes. It has a heady aroma and delicious flavour somewhere between brown sugar and molasses. Jaggery has a heavy caramel-like aroma which is slightly alcoholic. The taste is very sweet and mushy.

Jaggery has a special flavour that cannot really be substituted by sugar although brown or demerara sugar is the closest equivalent.

How to select:
Jaggery ranges from mustard yellow to deep amber in colour depending on the quality of sugarcane juice. The former is used to spread on breads and confections while the dark solid version serves to make candies and granola bars called chikki in India.

Use:
Jaggery is used in many dishes. You need small amounts of it for most dishes. The following are some of the examples: For the South Indian "payasam", jaggery is simmered with cooked rice and a variety of condiments and nuts. "Chikki" is made by adding nuts to melted jaggery and cooling the mixture in thin slabs. In rural India, tea is sweetened with jaggery instead of sugar. It is added to vegetables along with spices for the sweet and sour taste found especially in Gujarati dishes. It adds the necessary touch of sweetness to hot curries. It is added along with lentils to make a dough which is stuffed inside whole wheat flour dough to make a heavenly flat griddle bread known as puranpoli. Also, used in Indian sweet dishes like "Kheer"and several deserts instead of sugar because of its nutritious value.

Jaggery is used in traditional and cultural events as a gift to mark sweetness and auspiciousness.

How to store:
Store in an airtight container in a cool dry place.

Health benefits:
Jaggery is believed to have great nutritive and medicinal value and it has the reputation of being a 'medicinal sugar'. It is prescribed for use in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. Jaggery contains proteins, minerals, and vitamins which are essential constituents for the body. It is also a potent source of iron and has a higher iron and copper content than white sugar. Also, it is a superior product among natural sweeteners with regards to the vitamin contents. It is said to purify blood, regulate liver function, and keep the body healthy. It is also very useful in health problems like dry cough, cough with sputum, indigestion, constipation etc. It purifies the blood, prevents rheumatic afflictions and disorders of bile and possesses nutritive properties of high order. Being a completely natural product it's keeping quality is very poor and needs very specific conditions.

Tips:
Tired of using the hammer and knife method to break down large chunks of jaggery, follow the easy breezy method of using the microwave. Microwave large chunks of jaggery in a bowl for 20-25 seconds or so and they are soft enough to be crumbled easily.

Garlic

Description:
Garlic is used in cuisines throughout the world. It is indispensable in Chinese, Italian, and Mexican foods. Garlic looks pretty similar to onion except that the bulb is segmented into cloves seemed to be covered with what looks like tissue paper ;) It has been used for both culinary and medical reasons. The plant has been used to protect against infections, to lower blood cholesterol and fat levels, and to help with digestion and modern research has confirmed these effects.

Storing:
Store fresh garlic in an open container (away from other foods) in a cool dark place. When properly stored unbroken bulbs can be kept up to 8 weeks though they will begin to dry out toward the end of that time. Once broken from the bulb, individual cloves will keep from 3 to 10 days. It is kept in an open container as it "breathe" and allowing correct air circulation will extend its shelf life.

Do not store garlic heads and cloves in your kitchen fridge. If garlic is refrigerated then it is likely to go soft and mouldy. The same problem can occur if garlic is stored in a sealed plastic container.

Freezing:
If you are making garlic paste, then add a tablespoon of hot vegetable/canola/sunflower cooking oil to the paste and mix well. This ensures that it stays fresh for longer. Spread the garlic out in a ziploc bag in a thin layer so that its easier to remove and lay it flat in the freezer. When needed, just break off the amount needed and re-zip the bag.

Curry leaves

Appearance: Small, green leaves.







Flavour/Aroma : They have an aroma reminiscent of curry and citrus fruit with a slight, very mild, bitter after taste.

Description:
Curry leaves look like somewhat small leaves from a lemon tree. Fresh curry leaves are shiny dark green with no yellow spots on them nor are they wilted. They are sold with the branch and stems attached. Remove from the branch and discard the stems. You can find packets of fresh curry leaves in the fresh vegetable section or in the refrigerated area of your local Indian grocery shop. They are mainly used as an aromatic flavoring for most curries and dals. The leaves when lightly fried in oil or ghee release a wonderful fragrance and when used in dals/kadhi enriches them by its unique appetizing aroma.

Storing:
For extended use, place stems in between paper towels and seal in a zipper bag. Store in the crisper for as long as 2 weeks. Change the paper towels in between if it becomes too moist/damp.

Green chillies

Description:
We cannot think of Indian cooking without a dash of green chillies. Slit, sliced, chopped or diced, we just have to add a few green chillies to add that tang to our food. There are hundreds of different varieties of chillies ranging from very mild to scorchingly hot. The strength of the chilli depends on the amount of capsaicin, a volatile oil, in the seeds and pith. It is this oil which can burn the skin and eyes. As a general rule the darker the color of the chilli, the hotter it is. If you're not sure of the strength of the chillies you are using, use it in moderation to start with and then taste the dish and add more if need be.



Storing:
Green chillies are known to have bacteria around the stem. This leads to early spoilage. So when storing them, snap off and remove the stems, wrap them in paper towels, and put them in a ziploc and refigerate. The advantage of ziploc is that the chillies can be flattened so that they lie almost in a single layer. As the contact area is reduced, if one spoils, the chances of the spoilage spreading quickly to the others reduces. Also it saves space in the crisper. The paper towel absorbs any lingering moisture. If you find that it is becoming too damp, change the paper towel.

Freezer:
Just grind some green chillies and make green chilli paste and refrigerate it. This will stay good for a month or maybe more. Ensure a longer life by adding a tablespoon of hot vegetable/ canola/sunflower cooking oil to them and mixing well. Alternative: Serrano peppers is a good alternative if you cannot find green chillies or are too lazy to go to the Indian store.