← Back to Palm Jaggery

“In the villages around Thanjavur and Kumbakonam, filter coffee was never made with white sugar. It was always karupatti. The taste is so different — a little smoky, a little earthy — that once you drink it this way you cannot go back. My grandfather said white sugar in coffee is like wearing sandals to a temple.”

Ingredients

South Indian filter coffee powder (80% coffee, 20% chicory)	3 tbsp
Hot water for brewing	1 cup
Full fat milk	1½ cups
Sree Kumaran Palm Jaggery (Karupatti), finely grated	1½ tbsp per cup

Method

1. Add coffee powder to the top chamber of your stainless steel filter. Press lightly with the presser. Pour one cup of near-boiling water (not a rolling boil) over the powder. Cover and allow to drip into the bottom chamber for 8–10 minutes.
2. While the decoction drips, grate or crumble the palm jaggery finely. Its natural moisture means it grates easily into soft flakes — never hard like cane jaggery.
3. Heat milk in a small saucepan until it just begins to foam at the edges. Do not boil. Add the grated palm jaggery directly to the hot milk and stir until completely dissolved — about 90 seconds. The milk will turn a warm caramel colour.
4. Pour 2–3 tablespoons of the dark coffee decoction into a tumbler. Pour the karupatti-milk over it.
5. For the traditional froth: pour the coffee back and forth between the tumbler and the davara (the wide saucer) several times from a height, until it foams. Serve in the davara, piping hot.