Shri Hershne

Shri Hershne is a sweetener label, and its product on our shelves is palm candy, known in Tamil as panai kalkandu or panangkarkandu. It is made from the sap of the palmyra palm, boiled and slowly crystallised into pale brown, irregular lumps. It tastes less sharp than white rock sugar, with a gentle caramel and toffee note from the palm.

The pack sits in our mishri and sugar candy collection, part of the jaggery and mishri category. Mishri is the white crystal sugar candy used in North Indian homes; palm candy is its South Indian and Sri Lankan counterpart. Next to it you will find palm and kithul jaggery, which comes from the same type of sap but is set into a soft block.

In Tamil households palm candy is crushed and dissolved in warm milk with a pinch of pepper and turmeric, especially in the evenings and when the weather turns cold. It sweetens panagam, the jaggery and dry ginger drink offered at Rama Navami, and goes into payasam and ragi koozh. A lump is often placed beside fruit and flowers as a temple offering, and children are given a piece to suck as a treat. Jaffna Tamil homes, where the palmyra is a symbol of the north, use it in much the same way.

Palm candy is hard, so crush it in a pestle and mortar or tap it in a clean cloth with a rolling pin before dissolving it. It keeps for a long time in an airtight jar, though it can turn sticky in damp weather. To compare with other sweeteners, browse the full mishri and sugar candy range or our jaggery.