PALM SUGAR

We have used palm sugar in our 'country ' cooking classes this year on a couple of occasions. Palm sugar is honey hued and made from the sap of palm trees . It can take up to 15 years for a palm tree to start flowering and then the sap can be collected . Palm sugar needs to be grated or crumbled when used and should be kept in airtight containers . Palm sugar has many names - jaggery or gur in India or Sri Lanka ( which can also refer to raw cane sugar ), gula melaka in Malaysia , gula jawa in Indonesia and taan peep in Thailand.