India Vinegars

In India, there are two common vinegars: Coconut Vinegar, and Sugar Cane Vinegar. Ghara is a spherical clay vessel, made to store water. In the olden days Ghara was used to ferment and create vinegars. A Ghara can hold about 4 gallons of fluids. It has a lid made of clay that resembles a saucer. The lid was sealed with mud made of clay.

Coconut Vinegar

Toddy, is a sap collected from coconut palm. The collected sap is poured in to Ghara. The lid is sealed with a clay mud.  The toddy gets like hard cider in a couple of week. After about three months, it can siphoned off into bottles. The coconut vinegar is very sharp and acidic.

Cane Vinegar

As the name suggests this vinegar is made from sugar cane juice.

My mother used to fill up a Ghara with freshly squeezed sugar cane juice. She would put about 6 nails (size of penny nails in USA). The lid was sealed with clay mud. The vessel was left out in open for about three to four months. The vinegar was carefully siphoned off. It was thick and very mild compared to coconut vinegar.