Aashna Ahuja, NDTV | Updated: August 24, 2018 18:30 IST
My earliest memory of winter in Delhi, and perhaps my favourite, dates back to when I was maybe four years old. My mom had asked me to call my brother to the dinner table where laid a plate of Makki ki Roti, gur and a generous dollop of ghee. I remember thinking I would take just one small bite. Needless to say, I never made it to my brother's room... And a few minutes later, he found me polishing off his dinner, and not at all sorry for doing so. Who could blame me? The flavour of gur is just so heavenly. Another of my favourites is my nani's timeless Gur ki Roti loaded with ghee and saunf. To this day, the rustic earthy scent rewinds the clock and takes me back to my playful childhood days. Jaggery i.e. "Gur" in Hindi is also known as 'Bellam' in Telugu, 'Vellam' in Tamil, 'Sharkara' in Malayalam, 'Bella' in Kannada, and 'Gul' in Marathi. It is basically unrefined sugar which is obtained from raw, concentrated sugarcane juice. Although gur can be made from other sources, namely from date palm (nolen gur) and the sap of coconut, the one made from sugarcane juice is the most commonly used. It is prepared by boiling sugar cane juice till it solidifies and then put into blocks.
Eat a small piece of jaggery daily to combat symptoms of PMS