Joynagarer moa

Joynagarer moa
Region or state:
Joynagar, West Bengal
Creator(s):
Purna Chandra Ghosh and Nitya Gopal Sarkar
Serving temperature:
Room temperature
Main ingredient(s):
Date palm jiggery, puffed rice
Recipes at Wikibooks:
Joynagarer moa
Media at Wikimedia Commons:
Joynagarer moa

Joynagarer moa is a seasonal Bengali sweetmeat delicacy prepared from date palm jaggery and puffed rice. The original and special moa, a product of Joynagar, is threatened by fakes made in Kolkata and elsewhere with cheaper ingredients and chemical aromatics.^[1]

The original moa

The original Joynagarer moa is made with nolen gur (jaggery made from date palm tree extract with exquisite taste and aroma), kanakchur khoi (puffed rice made from a special variety of aromatic rice), gawa ghee (a type of clarified butter made from cow’s milk), elach (cardamom), and posto (poppy seed). Both nolen gur and Kanakchur rice are winter products (available around November to January) and hence Joynagarer moa is available during this period only.^[1] The ordinary or common moa is a small crispy ball made of puffed rice (muri rather than khoi) and jaggery. It is produced in homes all over Bengal and is also generally available in grocery shops in small plastic packets, throughout the year.

There are over 150 sweetmeat shops in Joynagar, Bahura and Charan, which produce Joynagarer moa with the original ingredients. Established in 1929, Sri Krishna Mistanna Bhandar is one of the oldest moa shops in Joynagar. In 1929, when pioneers like Purna Chandra Ghosh and Nitya Gopal Sarkar established moa manufacturing units and shops for selling them at Bahuru near Joynagar, it was named after its market place (Joynagar), and not by its birth place (Bahuru). Subsequently most of the units migrated to Joynagar, procuring the ingredients from Bahuru.^[2]

The fake moa

In more recent years, sweetmeat makers all over West Bengal, particularly Kolkata, produce a moa using cheaper ingredients that do not possess the aroma or the taste of the ingredients used for the moa produced in Joynagar, flavour them with chemical aromatics, and sell them as Joynagarer moa. Common people who are not familiar with the real taste of Joynagarer moa can hardly note the difference. So great has been the impact that the original Joynagarer moa is losing its pride of place and is being pushed to near extinction.^[2]

GI patent

The producers of original Joynagarer moa have set up an association and are trying to get a GI (geographical indication) patent, along the same lines as Darjeeling tea.^[2]

References