jaggery

American  

[jag-uh-ree] / ˈdʒæg ə ri /

noun

1. a coarse, dark sugar, especially that made from the sap of East Indian palm trees.

---

jaggery British  

/ ˈdʒæɡərɪ /

noun

1. a coarse brown sugar made in the East Indies from the sap of the date palm

---

Etymology

Origin of jaggery

1590–1600; < Portuguese (of India) jágara, jagre < Malayalam chakkara < Sanskrit śarkarā sugar

Example Sentences

When boiled longer, it reduces into jaggery, a mineral-rich palm sugar with a lower glycaemic index than the commonly available white cane sugar.

From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026

There’s the bubbling hum of rice boiling on the stove, the intoxicating aroma of warm milk infused with jaggery and fresh pods of cardamom filling the house with a scent no candle could compete with.

From Salon • Jan. 10, 2026

Both are made from a combination of sugarcane and jaggery and their café rum is infused with roasted coffee beans sourced from southern India.

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2023

Natural farming replaces all chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic matter such as cow dung, cow urine and jaggery, a type of solid dark sugar made from sugarcane, to boost soil nutrient levels.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 11, 2022

Very good vinegar is also obtained from it, and large quantities of jaggery or palm sugar are manufactured from the toddy.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William