JAGGERY
What is jaggery?
Jaggery is an unrefined sugar product made in Asia and Africa. It’s sometimes referred to as a “non-centrifugal sugar,” because it’s not spun during processing to remove the nutritious molasses.
Similar non-centrifugal sugar products exist all over Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, although they all have different names.
Use of jaggery
Like sugar, jaggery is versatile. It can be grated or broken up, and then used as a replacement for refined sugar in any food or drink.
In India, it’s often mixed with foods like coconuts, peanuts and condensed milk to make traditional desserts and candies. These include jaggery cake and chakkara pongal, a dessert made from rice and milk.
It is also used to make traditional alcoholic drinks, such as palm wine, and for non-food purposes like dying fabric. In the Western world, this sweetener is often used as a sugar substitute in baking. It can also be used to sweeten drinks like tea and coffee.
** source : HealthLine
SWEET POTATOES
What are sweet potatoes?
The sweet potato is a starchy, sweet-tasting root vegetable. They have a thin, brown skin on the outside with coloured flesh inside – most commonly orange in colour, but other varieties are white, purple or yellow. You can eat sweet potatoes whole or peeled, and the leaves of the plant are edible, too.
They may both be called ‘potatoes’, but sweet and white potatoes are not actually related. Botanically, the sweet potato belongs to the bindweed or morning glory family, whereas the white potato sits in the nightshade family.
** source : BBC Good Food
WHEAT FLOUR
What is wheat flour?
Wheat flour is made from grinding up parts of the wheat grain. There are three main parts of the grain:
- The endosperm, or protein/starchy part
- Germ, the rich in protein/fat/vitamin part
- Bran, the fiber-rich part
White flour is made from only the endosperm. Brown flour includes the germ and bran. Whole grain flour includes all three parts. Once each part has been separated, it is ground into a powder.
White flour has a naturally yellow-ish color but is often bleached or mixed with oxidizing chemicals to produce a white color.
Wheat is classified by several different characteristics: the season it is grown (spring or winter wheat), its color, whether it is “hard” or “soft,” by the amount of protein it contains, and by the amount of a specific protein, called gluten that it contains. Hard wheat is usually a bronze-color and has a higher gluten content than soft wheat, which is a light golden color.
** source : The Spruce Eats
CARDAMOMS
What is cardamom?
Cardamom is a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family. Cardamom pods are spindle-shaped and have a triangular cross-section.
The pods contain a number of seeds, but the entire cardamom pod can be used whole or ground. The seeds are small and black, while the pods differ in color and size by species.