June, 1912.] 



521 



Edible Products. 



thatching sheds. Only sufficient canes 

 for the day's crushing are to be cut as 

 otherwise, those left over without being 

 milled will ferment. The stripped canes 

 are then carried to the mill and crushed. 

 Pots which can be easily moved and 

 cleaned are essential, and for this reason 

 earthen pots buried in the ground are 

 bad. Ordinary kerosine tins do very 

 well and they should be well cleaned 

 and dried each day. 



As soon as a tin is full, the juice should 

 be carefully poured through a cloth or 

 wire gauze to remove the bits of cane, 

 leaf, etc, which fall in. 



The evaporating pan is now placed on 

 the furnace and juice poured in through 

 a strainer. About 60C lbs. or 15 kerosine 

 tins-full of juice is a fair charge for a 

 pan to yield 4 to 5 maunds (100 to 125 lbs.) 

 of jaggery according to the richness of 

 the juice. A small quantity of lime is 

 added to reduce the acidity of cane juice 

 before boiliug. The quantity to be 

 added to each pan depends on the 

 variety of cane, richness of juice, time of 

 cutting, presence of juice from diseased, 

 lodged and immature canes and many 

 other factors. No definite idea can be 

 given as to the exact amount of lime to 

 be added, as this can be judged only by 

 actual experience, but about one ollock 

 (j Madras measure) of thick milk of lime 

 will be generally sufficient for each 

 charge. Excess of lime spoils the colour 

 of the jaggery. Then the fire is started 

 with the fuel obtained from the trash 

 and megass. Each day the megass is 

 spread out to dry for the fuel of the 

 next day. There should be a low fire 

 throughout the process of boiling and 

 especially so after the juice has become 

 concentrated. This is why firewood in 

 big logs is condemned as it produces too 

 hot a flame which spoils the proper con- 

 sistency of jaggery. The fuel should 

 be of such a kind that the fire can be 

 continuously fed by small quantities 

 thrown into the fire-place. On no 

 account the pan must be heated till 

 the charge is full or else the scum 

 will not rise properly and cannot be 

 removed. As the fresh j uice approaches 



the boiling point, it froths up, carry- 

 ing the scum and most of the im- 

 purities to the surface. This is the 

 first scum and should be removed very 

 carefully without disturbing the liquid 

 down below. This is best done by means 

 of a small shallow bamboo basket or an 

 iron sieve fixed to one end of a thin 

 bamboo. This allows the pure juice to 

 run through, while retaining the scum 

 on its surface. A certain amount of 

 juice goes along with the scum, and most 

 of it can be got back by a simple device. 

 The scum may be put in a big flower pot 

 with a hole at the side close to the 

 bottom. The hole may be plugged with 

 a piece of cloth. After the whole scum 

 is put in and allowed to settle, the juice 

 being heavier goes to the bottom after a 

 few hours and can be drawn out and 

 added to the next pan. After the first 

 scum is removed the juice boils briskly 

 and a second scum appears. This is 

 rather thin and should be removed. 

 Afterwards it collects in small quantities 

 on the sides of the pan and can be 

 removed from time to time. Some people 

 add diluted milk, white of the egg or an 

 extract of Bhindi to purify the juice 

 further to get a better colour. In about 

 2| hours time, a stage is reached when 

 the juice rises almost to the top of the 

 pan and finally boils down forming large 

 bubbles owing to the thickness of the 

 juice. At this stage, it is the practice, 

 in some places, to add ghee, butter, 

 gingelly oil, coconut oil or milk of 

 coconut, to add a certain amount of 

 peculiar flavour to the jaggery. The 

 addition of oil prevents the liquid boil- 

 ing over. Now the fire should be lowered 

 gradually. When the evaporation is 

 complete, the syrup assumes a yellow 

 colour and should then be constantly 

 stirred with a wooden hoe made by 

 fixing a semi-circular piece of wood to 

 one end of a long bamboo, In jaggery 

 making the syrup is boiled to such a con- 

 sistency that it solidifies when cooled. 

 To know this point a few drops of the 

 syrup are poured in cold water in an 

 earthern tray in the form of a circular 

 thread. If this can be formed into a hard 

 pellet the pan is ready for removing, At 



