What is the difference between jaggery powder and desi khand?

Jaggery powder is whole cane juice boiled down and ground, with all its molasses. Desi khand is crystallised from the syrup and has most of its molasses drained or spun away, so it is paler and milder.

What is the difference between shakkar and chini?

In north India shakkar is powdered gur, brown and unrefined, and chini is white mill sugar. In central and western India the word shakkar is also used for white sugar.

What is the difference between khand and bura?

Khand is a light brown, partly refined cane sugar. Bura is white sugar cooked and stirred into a fine powder for laddoo. Bura is more refined than khand.

Can I use jaggery powder instead of brown sugar?

Yes, gram for gram. Jaggery powder has a stronger caramel taste and a deeper colour, and it behaves like brown sugar in cakes and cookies.

Is gur the same as shakkar?

In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh they are the same food in two forms: gur is the block and shakkar is the powder.

Gur, shakkar, khand, bura, mishri and sugar: what is the difference?

Jaggery basics · Updated 4 October 2026 · 6 min read

Six sweeteners from the same sugarcane, told apart by one question: how much was taken out of the juice. With brown sugar thrown in for good measure.

Two wooden spoons pouring golden-brown jaggery powder into a glass cup — Representative image.

In short: They all come from sugarcane juice and differ in how far it is processed. Gur is the juice boiled down with its molasses kept in. Shakkar is powdered gur. Khand is partly separated from its molasses. White sugar, bura and mishri are fully refined sugar in three shapes. Brown sugar is usually refined sugar with molasses added back.

One cane, one question

Cane juice is mostly water and sugar, with the colour and taste of the cane in it. Boil the water off and you get a dark, sticky mass. From there a maker can stop, or can start separating the pale sugar crystals from the dark syrup around them, which is called molasses. Every sweetener on this page is defined by how far that separation went.

Cane sweeteners compared by how they are made
Name	How it is made	Molasses	Looks and tastes like
Gur (jaggery)	Juice boiled in open pans until it sets	All of it stays in	Golden to dark brown, caramel and cane
Shakkar (jaggery powder)	Gur, drier, in grains	All of it stays in	Brown, free-flowing, same taste as gur
Desi khand (khandsari)	Open-pan syrup, crystallised, then drained or spun	Most is removed	Cream to light brown, mild
White sugar (chini)	Mill-refined, crystallised, spun	Removed	White, tastes only sweet
Bura (boora)	Sugar syrup cooked and stirred into a fine powder	Removed	White, soft powder, for laddoo
Mishri	Sugar syrup left to grow large crystals	Removed	Clear or white rock crystals
Brown sugar	Usually white sugar with molasses mixed back in	Added back	Soft, moist, light or dark brown

Gur and shakkar

These two are the same thing in two shapes. Gur is set in a block. Shakkar is the same cooked juice in grains, which is what the rest of the country calls jaggery powder. The details are in what is jaggery powder.

Khand

Desi khand, or khandsari, sits between gur and sugar. The juice is boiled in open pans like gur, but the thick syrup is then left to form crystals, and the molasses is drained or spun away from them. What is left is a cream or light brown sugar with a mild taste. It is a different product from gur, and the two should not be sold under each other’s name.

Sugar, bura and mishri

White sugar is the fully separated crystal. Bura and mishri are the same sugar reshaped: bura is cooked and stirred until it falls into a soft powder that binds laddoo, and mishri is grown slowly into large crystals, sometimes on a thread. None of them has the colour or the taste of the cane left.

Brown sugar

Most packaged brown sugar runs the process backwards: molasses is mixed into refined white sugar to colour and flavour it. That is why it is so even in shade. In a batter it behaves much like jaggery powder, and the two can be swapped by weight. More on that in baking with jaggery.

Which to use where

Chai, milk, thekua, til laddoo, chikki, gur ki roti: gur or shakkar, for the taste.
Besan laddoo, boondi laddoo: bura, for the texture.
Pale sweets where the colour matters (rasgulla, white kheer): sugar or khand.
Saunf after a meal, prasad: mishri.
Cakes and cookies: jaggery powder or brown sugar.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between jaggery powder and desi khand?: Jaggery powder is whole cane juice boiled down and ground, with all its molasses. Desi khand is crystallised from the syrup and has most of its molasses drained or spun away, so it is paler and milder.
What is the difference between shakkar and chini?: In north India shakkar is powdered gur, brown and unrefined, and chini is white mill sugar. In central and western India the word shakkar is also used for white sugar.
What is the difference between khand and bura?: Khand is a light brown, partly refined cane sugar. Bura is white sugar cooked and stirred into a fine powder for laddoo. Bura is more refined than khand.
Can I use jaggery powder instead of brown sugar?: Yes, gram for gram. Jaggery powder has a stronger caramel taste and a deeper colour, and it behaves like brown sugar in cakes and cookies.
Is gur the same as shakkar?: In Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh they are the same food in two forms: gur is the block and shakkar is the powder.