Joynagarer Moa

Joynagarer Moa (জয়নগরের মোয়া) is a Bengali sweet made by soaking khoi, a popped aromatic rice, with nolen gur, made from the sap of date palms, and shaping it into balls. It is made in and around Joynagar in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and is known as a winter sweet. The fragrance of nolen gur and the richness of milk fat are added to the light grains of rice.

The difference from ordinary moa begins with the rice

Moa is a name for sweets made by binding puffed grains and the like with sugar. What sets Joynagarer Moa apart among them is the combination of khoi made from an aromatic rice called Kanakchur and nolen gur. Khoi is made by heating paddy (unhusked rice) until it pops. Muri is rice puffed after steps such as cooking, and its order of processing differs from that of khoi.

Khoi has air-filled gaps inside each grain, making it a light ingredient that crumbles easily. It is soaked with fragrant sugar and combined with ghee and thickened milk. Cardamom, raisins, cashew nuts, pistachios and the like are used for flavor and garnish. Adding milk finishes it into a soft mass that keeps the lightness of the grains.

The sugar is cooked first, then the khoi is added, and after that more syrup and milk-based ingredients are mixed in. In this method, the grains are not only bound with hot syrup; the aroma and moisture are also adjusted before the mixture is shaped into balls. The hands that shape it are coated with ghee, and each piece is formed while keeping the shape of the puffed rice.

Joynagarer Moa made from bound rice grains. An example garnished with nuts and raisins. Photo: Yogabrata Chakraborty (Commons user Billjones94), 2023-01-13, West Bengal, India. Original image / CC BY-SA 4.0. Downscaled version from the source; no further edits.

Boiling down the winter sap

Nolen gur is a new-season sweetener made by boiling down sap freshly collected from date palms in winter. The work of obtaining sap from the trunks and turning it into sugar comes before the making of the sweet.

A major reason Joynagarer Moa became a seasonal sweet lies in the collection season for this sugar. The rice itself is also a locally produced variety, but what determines the sweet’s wintry aroma is the sugar made from freshly collected sap. With stored sugar or substitute flavorings, similar sweets can be made outside that season, but these are distinguished from the seasonal feeling of waiting for the new sugar.

The sugar boiled down from the sap is stored in earthenware vessels and mixed with sorted khoi. While hot, the mixture is stirred with wooden tools, then cooled until it can be handled by hand and rolled into balls. Spreading the sugar evenly without damaging the rice and judging the temperature at which it can be shaped follow one after the other. Chikki, which encases nuts in a slab of sugar, shares the binding of pieces with sugar, but it differs in the lightness of the grains and in the soft finish containing milk.

The artisans who collect the sap are called shiuli. In the evening, they cut into the trunk and hang a pot, take it down before dawn, and boil the sap for a long time. The winter sweet is supported by everything up to the skills of the people who handle collecting and boiling down the sap.

The supply of raw material changes from year to year. In 2024 interviews with a producers’ association, it was said that the late arrival of winter and unseasonal rain were squeezing the short selling season, and also that there was a shortage of shiuli as younger generations moved to jobs in cities. In January 2026, on the other hand, local shiuli were reported as saying that, because of a run of cold nights, the sap was better in quality and quantity than in previous years. The quantity and quality of the sugar depend on that winter’s weather and on the people who continue collecting sap. Workshops prepare their production according to each season’s supply.

Peddling in 1904 and a shop opened in 1929

Several people appear in the history of Joynagarer Moa. The producers’ association’s registration application states that Ashutosh Das of Shripur village began a moa business in 1904. In this account, he carried moa in large baskets to festivals, and it was also used as an offering to Radha Ballabh. What is described here is selling through peddling and at festivals, before the opening of any single shop.

It is said that the Shri Krishna Mishtanna Bhandar shop opened in Joynagar in 1929. This opening year is also given in the family history recounted in 2009 by the shop’s owner, Ashok Kumar Ghosh. Around Poush Sankranti in winter, large orders reportedly came from Kolkata, and the village sweet was also meeting demand for celebrations in the city.

The Joynagar name and the makers in surrounding villages

Makers in places around the town, such as Baharu, are also involved in producing Joynagarer Moa. There has been debate over whether Joynagar or Baharu should be put forward in the name of the place of origin, and the producers’ association has also been conscious of the administrative area and the range of makers. The town’s name is also a name that represents a production area including the villages that make sugar in winter and the confectionery workshops.

Joynagarer Moa was registered as a geographical indication in India in 2015. What is protected is not only the shape of rice rolled into balls, but a name tied to a specific region, ingredients and production skills. The application reflects producers’ concern that the same name is also used for items made with ordinary puffed rice or flavorings. In 2021, a trial shipment of about 30 kilograms was sent to Bahrain, and further orders followed. The village history of carrying moa in baskets to festivals, the winter orders from Kolkata and the shipments abroad show how the market for this sweet has expanded.

Glossary