I can bet that you always knew only about the edible uses of jaggery or, perhaps a step more, some of its medicinal uses. Now, I am going to tell you about some strange uses of jaggery which are not going to be that easy to digest. Just hold your breathe and sit tight.

• Jaggery (sugar cane jaggery) is often used as a lining for inner walls of the earthen ovens and is meant for seasoning it.
• Even a few decades ago, jaggery was in use (and still is in use in some places) as a building material, particularly in those places where our well known cement was not available. It was mixed with lime, sand and clay and used as cement for joining bricks. Jaggery, which is predominantly sucrose, upon reacting with calcium carbonate in lime and silica in clay, formed a very strong bond and became very hard on drying. Some examples of such buildings can still be seen in West Bengal (and perhaps in other parts of India), had not they been felled.

  

• Low quality jaggery, mixed with dust of tobacco, is used as tooth paste in many parts of India. It is so widely used that government earns some handsome revenue out of that. It is very popular and very addictive at the same time (I need not mention here that it is very harmful for the teeth and for overall health). Some people, who appear to have nothing to do, can be seen rubbing this stuff on their teeth the whole day and night, very lazily. It is a common sight in villages.
• Jaggery of low quality is often mixed with cattle-feed to add taste and make the cattle eat more. It also sweetens the milk.
• There are instances where jaggery had been used as bait for hunting wild animals. It was dumped in the open so that wild animals would come attracted by its smell to taste it and fall prey to the hunters. Since jaggery contains salt in it, besides being sweet and having a strong aroma, animals like to lick it.
• Among Hindus, it is customary to take a bite of jaggery after attending funeral, along with Margo leaves, crushed black pepper and to touch fire and iron, as it is said to purify.
• In some places, in certain religious ceremonies and rituals, small idols of jaggery, rice paste and turmeric are prepared and offered to local Gods and Goddesses.
• Jaggery is also used in fish baits. Jaggery, mixed with a number of ingredients such as ant eggs, ghee, edible oils, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder, mace, poppy seeds and a few costly things more, forms excellent bait. Fishes cannot resist its smell and are pulled to the gaming spot.

So, that was jaggery. So simple, but yet so mysterious! There are innumerable fables and folk tales in which jaggery finds a place. Want to experience it? Just sit around your Granny with a hot hand made whole wheat bread wrapped in jaggery and listen to her. The winter, the dark evenings, the smell of hot bread and jaggery and Granny’s tales! Ummm…..

This article is contributed by Aparup Mukherjee