Patiala Sugarcane Gur Jaggery Production

Patiala district lies in the sugarcane belt of the Punjab foothills where farmers grow autumn and early winter cane varieties processed into gur (jaggery) at village crushing units called kolhus. Bullock or tractor-powered crushing presses extract cane juice that is clarified with lime and plant extracts, then boiled in open iron pans until it sets into yellow-brown blocks sold at village mandis from November to February. Patiala gur is valued for its smoky caramel flavour and is eaten raw, melted into makki roti servings, and used in festival sweets like gur-rice and gudh-tilkut.