Agar Agar / Plant Based Gelatin

10 Apr Agar Agar / Plant Based Gelatin

Agar Agar & Gelatin are two ingredients for making dishes that need to be gelled. Gelatin is a protein obtained by boiling skin, tendons, ligaments, and/or bones with water. It is usually obtained from cows or pigs.

• Agar is produced from red algae / assortment of seaweed vegetation. And so is a vegetarian option that is used to gel puddings, desserts, jelly candy and more.
• In Indian cuisine, it is known as “China grass” and is used for making desserts.
• it is available in 2 forms: powder or strands that resemble shredded plastic.

Agar was discovered by an inn keeper in Japan in 1600’s. He had to make seaweed jelly noodles to serve some special guests. Unfortunately there was a lot of leftover. When he woke up next day, he was surprised to find they had dried up into a paper like substance. And so was developed Agar. Hence we can call it an accidental discovery like Archimedes theory of displacement. ?

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• Powdered variety is the easiest to use, easily available in the market but more expensive. Strands are cheaper. But you cannot measure them in spoons.
• Best is to buy strands at a cheaper rate, cut them into 1 inch pieces with scissors and powder in a spice grinder. The result is a flaky powder (not a fine powder), that can easily be measured with spoons. Store in an air-tight container and use when needed.

For all practical purposes, 1 tsp of fine powder = 1 tablespoon of powdered strands.

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