5 easy steps that can help you identify the purity of gur/jaggery!

With these simple steps you will know if what you consume is in fact, clean and organic jaggery.

5 easy steps that can help you identify the purity of gur/jaggery

As winter approaches, most homes will be filled with the fragrance of all things sweet and warm. And, gur or jaggery is most certainly one of those items.

Often replacing white sugar, gur is used in the preparation of several sweet treats during winters because of its rich iron vitamin C content that enables better blood circulation and its ability to keep bodies warm.

It is also excellent for digestion and also has a superior nutritional profile than white sugar because it goes through fewer process to prepare.

But with so many 'brands' claiming their gur to be 'organic' or 'clean,' it can be difficult to identify its purity. However, with these simple steps you will know if what you consume is in fact, clean and organic.

Click 'Start Gallery' to see how you can check the purity of gur or jaggery.

The quintessential taste test

In order to identify the purity of gur you can begin with a simple taste test.

Salt test: Before your purchase, taste a small piece of gur to check if it is salty. The salty taste in gur is due to the mineral salts naturally present in it. However, more salt means less freshness.

Bitter test: If the piece of jaggery tastes bitter, then it means it has been caramelisation during the boiling process. Also, if you spot any crystals on jaggery, know that it means that the jaggery has undergone a crystallisation process to artificially make it sweet.

The important colour test

Before you purchase jaggery from your local vendor, make sure to not just taste the jaggery, but also look at its colour closely. The colour on gur can tell you a great deal about its purity as well.

Yellow colour: Ideally, the colour of gur or jaggery should be brown or even dark brown. However, if you spot a yellow colour gur or jaggery know that some chemical has been added to it to make it look that colour or to even change its sweetness quotient.

What to do if you have already bought it?

In case you were not able to identify the purity on the spot at the shop, worry not. There are a few ways to still identify its purity once you are back home.

Chalk powder test: Sometimes manufacturers add chalk powder as an adulteration and increase its quantity and to lighten the colour. So to identify it, simply dissolve a small of piece of jaggery in water. If its adulterated, you'll notice the chalk settling down.

Hydrochloric acid test: In order to check if the gur you just bought contains additive colours, simply add 6 ml of alcohol to half a teaspoon of gur and then add 20 drops of hydrochloric acid.

Also read: Mums, stop giving milk to your child, it is slowly making him very sick!