Khéjur-gur

(page 6)

Reaching out for his honed sickle he proceeded to scrape the surface of the cleft cut into the trunk. The V shaped groove was also cleaned and the pot was placed on the tree with the rope, the bamboo spout just above the mouth of the pot. Anand reached for a leaf on the tree and curled the tip of the frond around the neck of the pot. The leaflets formed an ideal mesh cover over the open mouth of the earthenware pot. This done, Anand backed down the tree trunk, again using the rope around the tree trunk and waist. Anand put up pots on 16 trees that evening and the light intensity had mellowed into dusk by the time he finished and we took our leave, promising to be with him early next morning.

During the couple of days we spent talking to him, in between climbing trees and fixing pots and general conversation, we were able to find out the general procedure of preparing a Phoenix sylvestris tree for harvest of sap.

On average, Anand harvests about 20 litres of sap each day, out of which about 5 litres is left to ferment for consumption as an alcoholic liquor, while the rest is processed into gur. We couldn’t quite make it at 7.a.m. the next day, and so by the time we got to the spot near the pond, Anand was already on the job. Over a simple hearth dug on the ground a fire of dried reeds had been lighted. About three feet away, through a tunnel connecting the fireplace was the outlet for smoke. A large, black iron vessel sat smug on the mouth of the hearth blocking out all escape of flames and smoke. Phoenix sylvestris sap was boiling in the vessel and Anand was skimming out the white froth that formed on the surface. The ladle he used was ingenious, made out of a half of a hard coconut shell and a piece of bamboo pushed through two holes carved out at either end. For removing the froth from the boiling surface a common flat ladle with holes was used. The hearth seemed extremely efficient and small amounts of dried reeds kept the fire burning and the liquid boiling. After about 10 minutes of boiling, the frothing decreases and the liquid starts to take on a dark colour and begins to thicken. The boiling sap is stirred continuously and when the liquid had thickened considerably, the vessel was removed. Anand removed a couple of ladles of this liquid into a receptacle. As this liquid cooled it turned into a dark burgundy colour. Phoenix sylvestris sap treacle had just been made! It tasted very sweet and wholesome and generously poured on to fluffy pancakes it would have been a treat! This treacle is known as jholér-gur. Jhole (pronounced as in “mole”) is a term used for thin gravy. Jholér-gur is eaten with rice and village-made rice crispies, or with unleavened bread (chappati for those familiar with Indian food). The children, of course, love it as it is, fingers dripping with the sticky stuff.

The iron dish with darkening treacle went back into the fireplace and soon it started to boil. Further boiling reduced the contents and the treacle started turning yellowish and thickening considerably. The stirring was taken over by Anand’s wife while he moved a little distance away and started to make an oblong mound of the sandy soil. On this mound, suitably leveled with his hands, he proceeded to make depressions with the bottom of a steel tumbler, in neat little rows.

continued on [next page]   [previous page]   [top]   [index]

 

[an error occurred while processing the directive]