India has a very high percentage of cane sugar consumption. The cane sugar product used by the people of India is Khandsari or Khand. Khandsari is raw cane sugar produced from a mixture of molasses, so it has a dark brown color. Many people call Khandsari with muscovado sugar. India is currently the largest producer of Khandsari, producing more than 50% of the world’s supply of muscovado sugar.

Khandsari is made from sugarcane juice which is evaporated into slightly mushy crystals. The mushy liquid is a suspension of crystalline sugar and molasses called massecuite. Massecuite is also used in the production of jaggery, which is directly pressed into molds. Khandsari manufacturers use several methods of making sugar and still use traditional, low-tech methods.

Method of Making Khandsari

The manual production method is to crystallize (granulate) massecuite by cooling it in pans and continuously shearing it by stirring with a large spatula (typically used in India) or by pressing it with the feet (typically used in Africa).

The industrial centrifuge method was invented in the late 18th to early 19th century, in which massecuite is crystallized using a centrifuge to separate a crystal-rich mush that is drained of its molasses in a vessel under gravity.

Modern industrial methods using a spray drier.

Use of Khandsari

Although Khandsari and jaggery are traditional Indian sugars, Khandsari is more popular than jaggery. In general, Khandsari can replace brown sugar in various food and drink recipes in India. Such as sweets, masala chai, and bread by mixing them with melted ghee, Indian coffee, and khand cawal.

The many benefits of Khandsari for the people of India make India the largest Khandsari producer in the world. Of course, the Muscovado sugar market in the world will depend heavily on the availability of Khandsari in India. So this makes India a major player in muscovado sugar in the world.