Jaggery in Tamil: வெல்லம் (vellam)
The Tamil 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 வெல்லம் (vellam) in Tamil. Jaggery powder is நாட்டுச் சர்க்கரை (nattu sakkarai). Said "vel-lam".
The Tamil words for jaggery
| In English | In Tamil | In Latin letters |
|---|---|---|
| Jaggery | வெல்லம் | vellam |
| Jaggery powder | நாட்டுச் சர்க்கரை | nattu sakkarai |
| Palmyra jaggery | கருப்பட்டி | karuppatti |
| Palm jaggery, in plain words | பனை வெல்லம் | panai vellam |
| Ball-shaped jaggery | உருண்டை வெல்லம் | urundai vellam |
| Moulded jaggery | அச்சு வெல்லம் | achu vellam |
Tamil (தமிழ்) is spoken in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Tamil homes in Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore.
Vellam in the Tamil kitchen
Tamil has separate words for the block and the powder. வெல்லம் (vellam) is the set jaggery, sold as round balls or as small moulded pieces. நாட்டுச் சர்க்கரை (nattu sakkarai), literally country sugar, is the brown, unrefined powder, which is exactly what is sold in the north as jaggery powder or shakkar.
கருப்பட்டி (karuppatti) is a different thing: jaggery boiled from the sap of the palmyra palm, dark and smoky, and the sweetener of karuppatti coffee.
The harvest festival of mid-January is named after a jaggery dish. Pongal means to boil over, and sakkarai pongal is new rice boiled with milk and vellam until it does.
What it goes into
- Sakkarai pongal. Rice, moong dal, ghee and jaggery.
- Panakam. Jaggery water with dry ginger and cardamom, for Rama Navami.
- Adhirasam. Rice flour and jaggery, fried, for Deepavali.
- Kozhukattai. Steamed rice dumplings with coconut and jaggery.
- Payasam. Moong dal or rice, coconut milk and 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 Tamil?
- Jaggery is called வெல்லம் (vellam) in Tamil. 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 Tamil?
- நாட்டுச் சர்க்கரை (nattu sakkarai). It is jaggery dried a little further and ground, so that it can be spooned and measured like sugar.
- What is the difference between vellam and nattu sakkarai?
- Vellam is jaggery set in a block or ball. Nattu sakkarai is the same unrefined cane sugar in powdered form, what north India calls jaggery powder or shakkar.
- Is karuppatti the same as vellam?
- No. Karuppatti is made from the sap of the palmyra palm. Vellam is made from sugarcane juice.
- Is vellam the same as gur?
- Yes. வெல்லம் 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.