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Cutch (Catechu): Heartwood Chips Boiled, Evaporated and Sun-Dried
Cutch, or catechu, is a brown extract of the heartwood of the catechu acacia of India, rich in tannin: a dye and a strong tanning agent. Boil chips of the inner trunk in water, boil the liquor down to a syrup, and harden it in the sun into flat cakes.
The picture: powdered catechu (Maša Sinreih, Valentina Vivod, CC BY-SA 3.0).
Beginner
Two days
Instructions
1
1
Chip the heartwood
Chip the heartwood
Split the dark inner wood of the trunk into small chips with the hatchet.
Materials for this step:
Acacia Catechu Heartwood5 kgTools needed:
Hatchet
Balance Scale2
2
Boil
Boil
Boil the chips in water for some hours, strain off the brown liquor, and boil the chips again in fresh water. Combine the liquors.
Tools needed:
Large Cooking Pot
Fire Pit
Firewood
Strainer
Water3
3
Boil down
Boil down
Boil the liquor down over the fire, stirring as it thickens, until it is a syrup.
Tools needed:
Large Cooking PotFire PitFirewood
Wooden Spoon4
4
Sun-dry
Sun-dry
Pour the syrup thin onto a tray and leave it in the sun until it sets hard. Break it into flat cakes.
Tools needed:
Flat Drying TrayBalance Scale5
5
Cutch and bark
Cutch and bark
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Materials
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