Jaggery in Punjabi: ਗੁੜ (gur)
The Punjabi 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 ਗੁੜ (gur) in Punjabi. Jaggery powder is ਸ਼ੱਕਰ (shakkar). Said "gur" with a flapped r, close to the Hindi word.
The Punjabi words for jaggery
| In English | In Punjabi | In Latin letters |
|---|---|---|
| Jaggery | ਗੁੜ | gur |
| Jaggery powder | ਸ਼ੱਕਰ | shakkar |
| Jaggery in Shahmukhi script | گڑ | gur |
| Sweet jaggery rice | ਗੁੜ ਵਾਲੇ ਚੌਲ | gur wale chaul |
Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ) is spoken in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, and Punjab in Pakistan.
Gur in the Punjabi kitchen
Punjabi keeps two words where English has one. ਗੁੜ (gur) is the block. ਸ਼ੱਕਰ (shakkar) is the coarse, unrefined powder, and a Punjabi dictionary defines it exactly that way: sugar in a coarse, unpurified state. It is what the rest of India now buys as jaggery powder.
Shakkar stirred into warm ghee and eaten with a roti is the plainest sweet in a Punjabi house, and a piece of gur after a meal of makki di roti and sarson da saag is the oldest. At Lohri, gur goes into the bonfire along with rewri, gajak and sesame.
What it goes into
- Gur wale chawal. Basmati folded into a jaggery syrup with saunf and cloves.
- Shakkar ghee. Powdered gur and ghee, mopped up with roti.
- Makki di roti with gur. The winter plate, finished with a piece of gur.
- Gajak and rewri. Sesame and jaggery, for Lohri.
- Alsi di pinni. Flaxseed, atta and gur, rolled for the cold months.
Recipes on this site that cook with the same gur: gur ke chawal, til gur laddoo and gur ki roti. 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 Punjabi?
- Jaggery is called ਗੁੜ (gur) in Punjabi. It is sugarcane juice boiled down until it sets, sold as a block, as cubes or as a powder.
- What is jaggery powder called in Punjabi?
- ਸ਼ੱਕਰ (shakkar). It is jaggery dried a little further and ground, so that it can be spooned and measured like sugar.
- What is shakkar in Punjabi?
- ਸ਼ੱਕਰ (shakkar) is powdered, unrefined jaggery: the same thing sold elsewhere as jaggery powder. It is not white sugar, which Punjabi calls khand or cheeni.