Jaggery in Malayalam: ശർക്കര (sharkara)
The Malayalam word for jaggery, how it is said, what the powder and the palm kinds are called, and the dishes it goes into.
In short: Jaggery is called ശർക്കര (sharkara) in Malayalam. Jaggery powder is ശർക്കര പൊടി (sharkara podi). Said "shar-kka-ra".
The Malayalam words for jaggery
| In English | In Malayalam | In Latin letters |
|---|---|---|
| Jaggery | ശർക്കര | sharkara |
| Jaggery powder | ശർക്കര പൊടി | sharkara podi |
| Jaggery, in older and everyday speech | ചക്കര | chakkara |
| Palm jaggery | കരിപ്പെട്ടി | karippetti |
| Ball-shaped jaggery | ഉണ്ട ശർക്കര | unda sharkara |
Malayalam (മലയാളം) is spoken in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
Sharkara in the Malayalam kitchen
English owes its word to Malayalam. Jaggery came into English through the Portuguese jágara, which the dictionaries trace to the Malayalam ചക്കര (chakkara), itself from the Sanskrit sharkara.
In today’s Malayalam the usual word is ശർക്കര (sharkara). Palm jaggery is കരിപ്പെട്ടി (karippetti), also spelled കരിപ്പട്ടി. Kerala has two jaggeries with a Geographical Indication, Marayoor and Central Travancore, described in GI-tagged jaggery of India.
An Onam sadya has jaggery at both ends: sarkara varatti, banana chips glazed in it, on the leaf at the start, and ada pradhaman, rice flakes cooked in coconut milk and jaggery, at the finish.
What it goes into
- Ada pradhaman. Rice flakes, coconut milk and jaggery, for Onam.
- Sarkara varatti. Banana chips coated in jaggery and dry ginger.
- Unniyappam. Fried rice, banana and jaggery rounds.
- Ela ada. Rice parcels with coconut and jaggery, steamed in banana leaf.
- Vishu katta. Rice and coconut milk cake, eaten with jaggery.
Recipes on this site that cook with the same gur: sakkarai pongal, panakam and ukadiche modak. All of them are on the recipes page.
The same gur, delivered
Whatever a kitchen calls it, sugarcane jaggery is one food. Ours is made from cane grown in the Muzaffarnagar belt of Uttar Pradesh, crushed on a village kolhu and cooked in open iron kadhais with nothing added, and sent across India as a powder and as cubes.
Jaggery in other languages
- Jaggery in Hindi: गुड़ (gud or gur)
- Jaggery in Punjabi: ਗੁੜ (gur)
- Jaggery in Urdu: گڑ (gur)
- Jaggery in Marathi: गूळ (gul)
- Jaggery in Gujarati: ગોળ (gol)
- Jaggery in Bengali: গুড় (gur)
- Jaggery in Odia: ଗୁଡ଼ (guda)
- Jaggery in Assamese: গুৰ (gur)
- Jaggery in Tamil: வெல்லம் (vellam)
- Jaggery in Telugu: బెల్లం (bellam)
- Jaggery in Kannada: ಬೆಲ್ಲ (bella)
- Jaggery in Malayalam: ശർക്കര (sharkara)
Every language side by side: jaggery names in Indian languages.
Questions people ask
- What is jaggery called in Malayalam?
- Jaggery is called ശർക്കര (sharkara) in Malayalam. It is the same food as the gur or gud of north India: sugarcane juice boiled down until it sets.
- What is jaggery powder called in Malayalam?
- ശർക്കര പൊടി (sharkara podi). It is jaggery dried a little further and ground, so that it can be spooned and measured like sugar.
- Where does the English word jaggery come from?
- From the Portuguese jágara, which dictionaries trace to the Malayalam chakkara, from the Sanskrit sharkara.
- Is sharkara the same as gur?
- Yes. ശർക്കര made from sugarcane and the gur of north India are the same food under two names. ShuddhGaon’s comes from cane grown in the Muzaffarnagar belt of Uttar Pradesh and is delivered across India.