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Jaggery factory2, originally uploaded by equilibriumart.

This is a traditional Indian jaggery factory, They are all outdoors and very, very rustic. They boil freshly extracted sugar cane juice in a huge vat, with a massive fire under the ground, in a kind of furnace. Then they hang it in large pouches to clean, and let the pure sugar drip through. Finally they cool it in a very wide flat pool where they stir it so it thickens, then lift out slabs to cool on a tarpaulin on the ground. If you eat it at this stage it is the best, then it hardens as it cools more. This photo captures the late afternoon sun through the steam coming off the vat - it was very atmospheric. Near Baraut, UP, India.