It contains up to 50% sucrose, up to 20% invert sugars, and up to 20% moisture, with the remainder made up of other insoluble matter, such as wood ash, proteins, and bagasse fibres.

[citation needed] The toddy palm is tapped for producing jaggery in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, syrup extracts from kithul (Caryota urens) trees are widely used for jaggery production.

Traditionally, the syrup is made by boiling raw sugarcane juice or palm sap in large, shallow, round-bottomed vessels.

The pan is extremely large to allow only a thin coat of this hot liquid to form at its bottom, so as to increase the surface area for quick evaporation and cooling.

The quality of jaggery is judged by its colour; dark brown means it was not clarified during the making, or the sugarcane juice was boiled with full nutrients intact.

Some people misinterpret this as impure and clarify the juice to improve colour while taking out the nutrients to make golden-yellow jaggery, which is nothing but refined sugar.

Due to this grading scale, coloured adulterants, which may be toxic, are sometimes added to jaggery to simulate the golden hue.

[citation needed] Natural dark brown jaggery is derived from whole sugarcane juice, by means of boiling at nearly 200°C in a large cast iron pan.

[citation needed] Many manufacturers use synthetic oil and argue that since it is in trace amounts there is no health concern.

Jaggery is used as an ingredient in sweet and savoury dishes in the cuisines of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Iran.

Jaggery is added to lentil soups (dāl) to add sweetness to balance the spicy, salty, and sour components, particularly in Gujarati cuisine.

[6] Maharashtra in India is the largest producer and consumer of jaggery known as "gul" (गुळ) in Marathi, "gur" (گڑ) in Urdu, "bellaṁ" (బెల్లం) in Telugu, bella (ಬೆಲ್ಲ) in Kannada, "Vellam"(வெல்லம்) in Tamil, "sharkara" (ശർക്കര) in Malayalam , "Gōḷa" (ગોળ) in Gujarati , "miṣṭa" (मिष्ट) in Sanskrit, "guṛa" (ଗୁଡ଼) in Odia, gur (गुड़) in Hindi and , " guṛ" (গুড়) in Bengali.

In rural Maharashtra and Karnataka, water and a piece of jaggery are given to a person arriving home from working under a hot sun.

In Andhra, Telangana and Karnataka on Ugadi festival day (New Year), Ugadi Pachadi is made from jaggery and five other ingredients (shad ruchulu- sweet, sour, salt, tangy, spice and bitter) and is consumed symbolizing life is a mixture of happiness, disgust, fear, surprise, anger and sadness.

It contains many minerals not found in ordinary sugar and is considered beneficial to health in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

[9] It is an ingredient of many sweet delicacies, such as gur ke chawal / chol ("jaggery rice"), a traditional Rajasthani or Punjabi dish.

It is used to make kalhi, to sweeten fruit salads and payasam (sweet milk) that are offered to the gods.

Toddy palm jaggery is sometimes mixed with coconut shreds, jujube puree or sesame, depending on the area.

Besides being a food, jaggery may be used (mixed in an emulsion with buttermilk and mustard oil) to season the inside of tandoor ovens.