Jaynagarer Moa ( bn, জয়নগরের মোয়া) is a seasonal

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

sweetmeat delicacy prepared from date palm jaggery and Kanakchur khoi. This variety of Moa originated in

Jaynagar Jaynagar Majilpur () is a town and a municipality of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is situated in the southern suburbs of Kolkata. As an urban setup in the vicinity of Kolkata, the town is within the ar ...

of the South 24 Parganas district in the

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. It is now a popular sweet, being produced in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

and elsewhere, sometimes with cheaper ingredients and chemical flavours. Jaynagarer Moa was given a

Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town, region, or country). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, ...

tag in 2015 which will enable the product to be protected from unauthorized uses and piracy.

History

According to researcher, the inventor of

er Moa is Jaminiburo, a resident of Bahru village, near

town. One day, at an event, he prepared and served Moa made with his own farm-grown Kanakchur Khoi and, Nolen Gur. The event was attended by Yugavatar Srichaitanyadeva, and he was very satisfied with the Moa. Gradually the Moa became very popular all around the Jaynagar city. In 1929 Purna Chandra Ghosh aka Buchkibabu and Nityagopal Sarkar set up their Moa manufacturing factory (Sri Krishna Mistanna Bhandar) and shop is in

Town, near Joynagar Mazilpur 2no. Station platform.
Jaynagarer Moa
is made with ''Nolen Gur'' (jaggery made from date palm tree extract with exquisite taste and aroma), Kanakchur khoi (a form of popped rice made from a special variety of aromatic rice), '' Gawa ghee'' (a type of

clarified butter Clarified butter is milk fat rendered from butter to separate the milk solids and water from the butterfat. Typically, it is produced by melting butter and allowing the components to separate by density. The water evaporates, some solids (i.e. ...

made from cow's milk), ' (

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

), and ''posto'' ( poppy seed). Both ''Nolen Gur'' and Kanakchur rice are winter products (available around November to January) and hence Jaynagarer Moa is available during this period only. 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 Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and is also generally available in grocery shops in small plastic packets, throughout the year. There are over 250 sweetmeat shops around Jaynagar, which produce Jaynagarer Moa with the original ingredients. The Jaynagarer Moa manufacturers in Jaynagar had been attempting to get

status for Jaynagarer Moa.

Challenges

The popularity of the dish has led in recent years to sweetmeat makers all over

, particularly

, producing large quantities of Jaynagarer Moa using cheaper ingredients flavoured with chemical aromatics and marketing them as Jaynagarer Moa. Date palm jaggery is becoming harder to come by due to the decrease in the number of date palms in West Bengal and the shift of members of the Shiuli community, traditional producers of "Nolen Gur" from date palm juice, to other professions. Similarly, Kanakchur rice is a local variant which grows only in winter and through traditional fertiliser-free techniques only.

References

{{West Bengal Sweets of West Bengal Bengali cuisine Indian desserts South 24 Parganas district Geographical indications in West Bengal Geography of Jaynagar Majilpur