Economy

In photos: Pakistan keeps alive traditional gur-making process

By Alamgir Khan

A farmer loads sugarcane onto a donkey cart in January in Charsadda District. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer loads sugarcane onto a donkey cart in January in Charsadda District. [Alamgir Khan]

Two farmers crush sugarcane in a traditional mill to extract juice for gur in January in Charsadda District. [Alamgir Khan]

Two farmers crush sugarcane in a traditional mill to extract juice for gur in January in Charsadda District. [Alamgir Khan]

Two farmers in Charsadda District in January carry the remnants of sugarcane crushed by a traditional mill. [Alamgir Khan]

Two farmers in Charsadda District in January carry the remnants of sugarcane crushed by a traditional mill. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District fuels the fire of a traditional sugarcane mill in January. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District fuels the fire of a traditional sugarcane mill in January. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District in January pours sugarcane juice into a heated reservoir to make gur. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District in January pours sugarcane juice into a heated reservoir to make gur. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District stirs sugarcane juice to cook it into gur in January. [Alamgir Khan]

A farmer in Charsadda District stirs sugarcane juice to cook it into gur in January. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers transfer liquid gur from a cooking vessel to a processing vessel in Charsadda District in January. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers transfer liquid gur from a cooking vessel to a processing vessel in Charsadda District in January. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers in Charsadda District cool down hot liquid gur in January into a soft solid. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers in Charsadda District cool down hot liquid gur in January into a soft solid. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers in Charsadda District mold gur in January. [Alamgir Khan]

Farmers in Charsadda District mold gur in January. [Alamgir Khan]

A store worker in Charsadda District in January sells gur. [Alamgir Khan]

A store worker in Charsadda District in January sells gur. [Alamgir Khan]

CHARSADDA -- The traditional production of gur, an unrefined sugar made from boiling sugarcane juice, is very popular in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Several districts including Charsadda and Swabi are famous for making gur, which Pakistanis use to sweeten tea and several traditional dishes, and also eat as dessert.

"Gur making is our local industry," Khyal Said, a farmer in Charsadda District, told Pakistan Forward. "We not only make gur for local use but ship it to other parts of the country and to Afghanistan."

"The gur-making process starts in December and continues through March," he said.

Two farmers in Charsadda District crush sugarcane in January to obtain juice for making gur. [Alamgir Khan]

Two farmers in Charsadda District crush sugarcane in January to obtain juice for making gur. [Alamgir Khan]

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You can call it Jaggery instead of gur or gurh.

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Acquintance with old traditions is necessary because we could understand the suffering and hard working of forefather who had faced to fulfill our bellies.

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