Jaynagarer Moya: Bengal winter's gift to epicureans

Jaynagarer moya, the sweet roundel from Jaynagar (also spelt Joynagar) near Kolkata, which has won the coveted G I (geographical indication) tag in 2015, is the other seasonal Bengali sweetmeat delicacy prepared from date palm jaggery (Nolen gur) and Kanakchur khoi (popped rice from its unhusked grains).

Joynagarer moya was born in Jaynagar area in South 24 Parganas district (Baharu to be precise if one goes by the name of the police station area where moya is made). The area is an hour and half's train ride from Kolkata. For ease of identification, the moya is sold under the name of Jaynagar.

It is said that in the 19th century, an old man from Baharu village mixed the rice husks of his farm with jaggery and made a paste and served it. Thus, moya was born.

A gram panchayat (village council) area, Baharu is located within the town of Joynagar. If you go along the railway line from Sealdah to the south, this is the station just before Jaynagar.

Each woman in Baharu cooks 12 to 16 kg of moya a day, producing 250 moyas in 45 minutes. The moya of Jaynagar is made of the first Kanakchud rice porridge and jaggery ghee known as khoya.

IBNS-TWF lensman Avishek Mitra spoke to Bhabani Sarkar of Baharu, an electrical engineer by profession, who used to work at Gardenreach Shipbuilders. On his initiative, 56 traders got the GI certificate for Jaynagar moya.

"The vanishing winter is a threat to the moya industry as pure Nolen gur derived from the sap of date-palm trees is hard to procure then," Sarkar says, adding that there are many fake versions of the original moya now flooding the market short-changing the consumers.

Traders say it has become difficult to get pure Nalen jaggery these days and that worries them a lot about the future of the winter delicacy people look forward to throughout the year.

The collection of the liquid sap from the date palm tree is a specialised job and undertaken by a group of people known as ‘siuli’, who are expert tree climbers. They also know which trees to tap and when. All calculations are based on knowledge handed down for generations and personal experience.

The siulis collect the juice from the date palm tree and leave it for three days. Then, the juice is heated on a low flame to make Nalen Jaggery. Finally moya is made with Kanakchur Khai, Khoa Kheer, Cashew Nuts, Pistachios, and Ghee.

The price of Moya in Baharu also fluctuates due to the constant quality difference. They range from INR 150 per kg to INR 500-550 per kg. One kg of Moya consists of around 18 pieces of the roundel.