I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but one of my sweetest winter holiday memories is of my cousins and I sitting outside and soaking up the warm winter sun and my grandmom would hand out a small piece of gur which we all had to eat after our meal. She would tell us how it was super healthy and all we did was roll our eyes.
Well! Fast forward and now I know why a lot of elders end their meal with a piece of gur (jaggery) once winter sets in. It’s because it activates the digestive enzymes in our body and aids in digestion.
What is jaggery? Made of sugarcane it’s made by boiling sugarcane juice and is a much healthier option compared to white sugar.
Gur or jaggery can be given to a baby once they turn 1 year old. It is not recommended that you give baby gur before that unless cleared by your paediatrician.
Besides this, there are several reasons why gur should be part of your winter meal plan.
- Rich in iron
- Source of Vitamin C
- Relieves constipation
- Helps cleanse the liver by flushing out toxins
- Strengthens the bones since it is rich in calcium
- Immunity booster
I’ve put together some recipes for you where gur can be used to add more flavour & health to your food.
Gur Ki Roti
Image Source: http://www.steamingpot.com
Ingredients
- ½ Cup Gur Powder/Grated (jaggery)
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 -1 ¼ Cup Atta (whole wheat flour)
- 1 Tsp Saunf (fennel seeds)
- 1 Tbsp Ghee + more to roast the roti
Method
- In a bowl take the gur powder and water. Mix well and keep aside till the gur dissolves. It will take about 30 minutes.
- In another bowl, mix together the atta, ghee and saunf.
- Once the gur has dissolved, strain the liquid into the atta mixture.
- Mix and then knead to form a smooth dough.
- If the dough appears too wet, add some more atta. It will be a bit sticky due to the jaggery.
- Spread some ghee on the rolling platform and place a small dough ball on it and roll out. It shouldn’t be too thin.
- Heat the tawa and put the roti on it. Roast the roti on a low flame.
- Flip it over when it has browned on one side.
- Spread some ghee on the roti and flip again. The gur roti absorbs a lot of ghee so don’t go overboard with the ghee.
- Press down on the corners and flip the roti over a few times to ensure that the jaggery and the atta have cooked properly.
- This can be eaten plain, with curd or white butter.
Murmure/Muri Ladoo
Image Source: https://www.pakwangali.in
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Murmure/Muri (rice puffs)
- 250g Gur (jaggery)
- 1 Tbsp Ghee
Method
- Melt the gur and ghee in a kadai
- In a separate pan dry roast the murmura till it becomes crisp.
- Once it has cooled, add the murmure to the gur and quickly combine well.
- Take it off the heat and allow it to cool a little.
- Moisten your hands with ghee and start rolling out the murmure ladoos.
- Leave it to cool completely and enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Channa Dal
- 1 Cup Coconut grated
- 2/3 Cup Gur (jaggery)
- 1 1/2 – 2 Cup Maida (Flour)
- A pinch of Cardamom POwder
- Ghee as required
Method
- Soak channa dal for a short while and cook well (to a mashed consistency).
- Add coconut and pulse it in the mixie along with cardamom powder.
- Add the powdered jaggery to this ground mixture.
- Once the filling is ready, make them into equal sized balls.
- Prepare the outer dough using maida (all purpose flour), turmeric, salt & water.
- Place the filling inside the maida dough and roll the polis out similar to parathas.
- Serve hot with a generous topping of ghee!
Image Source: https://www.organicfacts.ne
