How Mandya’s Traditional Jaggery Combats Anaemia And Boosts Health

Mandya, located in Karnataka and its sugar factories are major contributors to the economy. According to Local 18 Kannada, a traditional jaggery (unrefined brown sugar made from palm sap) processing unit, i.e., – Aale Mane – is also located here. There are a lot of benefits to eating the jaggery made here. It boosts the energy of the people who constantly feel tired. It also gives respite from constipation and increases the immunity levels. Those who feel joint pain and women suffering from problems related to menstrual pain should also try consuming this jaggery. Brown sugar also helps get relief from the toxic molecules around the gallbladder, thus preventing any disease. It helps ease digestion, removes acidity-related ailments and is also good for relieving anaemia.

Anaemia is a problem of not having enough healthy red blood cells or haemoglobin to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. The jaggery produced here purifies the blood, stimulates the endorphin hormones and also helps provide relief from the stress. Endorphins are chemicals your body releases when it feels pain or stress. It is good for curing colds, coughs and mental health issues women face while dealing with menstrual pain.

How Jaggery is produced in Mandya?

In Aale Mane, the sugarcane cut from the field is placed into the sugarcane juicer machine to extract the juice. After that, the sugarcane juice is purified and put in a large boiling iron pan under the fire and boiled. The kiln (a large oven for baking clay and bricks, drying wood and grain, etc) is built on the ground. In many huts, the sugarcane husks are dried by machine put in the furnace and set on fire.

After that, 3 to 4 pans are placed in a row and sugarcane juice is boiled in them. Then the gases are produced and removed through through the chimney. All the scum (layer of froth) that rises at the top during boiling is removed through a sieve or cloth tied to a long stick. Boiling helps evaporate all the water content and then solidifies the sugarcane milk. Boiling jaggery is dropped into the pit when the dull yellow material becomes stringy when lifted. After it dries a little, moulds are made of the required size and shape.

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