Are We the In-Between? - Lemon Bars with Jaggery

Are we the in-between? I am an Indian American, more than one foot in the US, but with culture and roots from India. A place that I barely know, only a handful of visits during my childhood, and many stories and traditions from my parents.

During my ob/gyn residency, one of my mentors talked it about one afternoon. We were sitting in our little lounge, in between seeing patients. It barely fit five people. It had been a long day, and we started talking about the idea of home. He said we could never go home to that place where we come from because it does not exist. As an immigrant, he had come from Egypt in the 1960s, traveling to Uganda and then finally leaving that country to settle in the US. He remembered his time fondly in all these places. But what was striking was that he said things have moved on. The world has moved on. The Egypt of his childhood was no longer there.

My parents came to this country with a suitcase and just a little money. My mother threw herself into her new country and culture. She was learning about holidays, foods, customs, and trying to navigate all this with two small children. Her love of cooking spilled into preserving the foods of her homeland and learning about new foods to make. She loved to bake, and I've included some of her favorites on the blog. Hummingbird cake, spiced apple hand pies, and peanut acorn cookies were some of her favorites.

This week, writing this post made me think of my mother's lemon bars. I tweaked her recipe and made them with jaggery. Jaggery or unrefined cane sugar is sweet and with a molasses flavor. I love these lemon bars because they are tart and lemony, but the jaggery offers a little bit of a complex and sophisticated earthy flavor. Jaggery does have more moisture compared to white sugar. So baking with it can change the final result. I used a blend of white sugar and jaggery to keep the lemon bars still crisp and not too moist.

And so I feel like the in-between, perhaps just like these lemon bars. I remember my heritage but will forge ahead.

Lemon Bars with Jaggery

These classic lemon bars get an Indian twist. Jaggery, or unrefined cane sugar offers a earthy sweet note to bright citrusy lemon flavors.

Adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Serves 8

For the crust

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter (chilled, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (1 stick))
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling

• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup jaggery
• 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
• 1/2 cup flour
• Confectioner's sugar (for dusting)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. For the crust. Combine the sugar, flour and salt. Using a food processor, cut the butter into the flour mixture until you get a coarse crumbly dough. You can also use a pastry knife. Gently press it into a 9 x 9 inch baking pan.
3. Bake the crust for 30 to 35 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack.
4. While the crust is baking, make the filling. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugars, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the cooled crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
5. Chill in the refrigerator before cutting them into squares.
6. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.