Jaggery in your chai: how much, and when to add it
How to use it · 21 August 2026
The most common question we get is the simplest one: how much jaggery replaces how much sugar? The short answer is one for one. Our powder measures spoon-for-spoon like white sugar, so a cup you used to make with one teaspoon of sugar takes one teaspoon of jaggery powder.
The part people get wrong
Timing, not quantity. Jaggery and milk can curdle if the jaggery goes into milk that is boiling hard and acidic. The fix is easy: take the tea off the heat, wait a few seconds for it to stop boiling, and stir the jaggery in then. It dissolves in seconds because the powder is fine.
If you prefer to add it early, add it to the water-and-tea-leaves stage before the milk goes in. Either order works. What does not work is dropping it into milk at a rolling boil.
Rough measures we use
Regular cup of chai: one level teaspoon. Strong or large cup: one heaped teaspoon. A glass of warm milk: one to two teaspoons, stirred until it disappears. Filter coffee: one teaspoon, added to the decoction rather than the milk.
On taste
Jaggery is not a neutral sweetener the way refined sugar is. It carries a caramel, faintly earthy note from the cane it was made from. Most people find their tea tastes rounder within a week of switching. If the flavour feels strong at first, start at three-quarters of your usual quantity and work up.