Jaggery, Jaggery where art thou?
Published on Indulge - the weekend supplement of the Nation newspaper on 13th Jan, 2008

You’d think with jaggery (palm sugar) been such an important and much raved ingredient in our day to day life that it would be easy enough to get hold of some decent jaggery. We use it basically for all our sweetmeats like kavum, aggala, naran kavum and aluwa to name but a few. Leave aside our sweetmeats; it is seldom that our self-drinking tea (or rather our plain tea) is complete without a piece of jaggery.

Yet, it is indeed a rare treat to come across really good jaggery. A good jaggery made from pure kithul (palm) treacle is so soft and malleable that chunks can be broken off with the mere pressing of just the thumb and forefinger. It spreads on bread (hoppers, biscuits etc) and melts on the mouth like warm, creamy chocolate – only better. This is however a really rare treat as most of the jaggery we find our so mixed with sugar that it is rock hard and tastes little different to candy.

This is such a pity as the proper jaggery is wholesome, unlike the refined sugar and thus contains more mineral salts and is rich in iron, potassium and magnesium. This, which is made by heating the sap (either sugarcane or palm sap) to a concentrated paste by heating it to 2000C is devoid of any chemical or other agents, has thus been used in our ancient auyrvedic medicines in treating lung and throat infections, purification of blood, prevention of rheumatism and bile disorders.

Still for all, with the long history Sri Lanka has had with jaggery – for over two millennia – the only place bojoon.com has come across the best quality of jaggery is from Food City, Kandy. They have a supplier from a nearby estate and it gets sold faster than they can stack it up on the shelf. This is so popular and so much in demand, that to actually find it at Food City, Kandy, is like winning the lottery.

The good thing about living in a small town like Kandy is that CRM (Customer Relationship Management) comes effortlessly. As a result, regular customers like my parents gets their share reserved the minute this particular jaggery comes in and that’s how I, who lives so far away as Colombo gets to nibble this luxury.

When my parents ever so thoughtfully gift me a couple of those wonderful hemispheres I become the most popular person in our circle of friends. Friends who had been so busy suddenly find time to drop in ‘for a cup of tea’!!!

I wouldn’t know if the Food City Colombo branches would have the same jaggery (I doubt it very much though), for I am very reluctant to set foot into those stores. The products are great and priced well and they do support the rural communities, but their service and music are simply atrocious. Somehow, for me, it is very important that I feel welcomed and not feel the angry (or for that matter even indifferent) vibes for bringing them business. That’s why I shop at Keells.

They don’t always have all the products I need and most annoyingly most products are not priced, but their service is fabulous. They act as if there is no greater joy than to accommodate my every whim and whine. So I shop at Keells, even though their jaggery would be of use only to the folks at Rupavahini Cooperation.

Luckily, CIC outlets, Fresheez – which is rivaling Food City in terms of quality of fresh produce and commitment to community service and Keells in terms of CRM – has come to my rescue with their tubs of nearly pure kitul jaggery. They’ve done away with the traditional hemisphere, hence the ‘character’ might not quiet be there, but nevertheless, quality is really quite very decent. Of course, no one would rush over ‘for a cup of tea’ for this jaggery, but no one would turn down the offer for a plain tea either.