Sweet delicacy ‘Dhanu Muan’ floods Berhampur market

Berhampur: Dhanu Muan’ (made of sweetened rice flakes), also known as ‘Berhampur Muan’ in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, rules the roost in Berhampur. Almost all the sweetmeat shops here are busy rolling out ‘Dhanu Muan’ of various shapes and sizes which is not just sold in various parts of Odisha but also exported and sold online.

More than 1,000 kg ‘muan,’ prepared by using ‘desi ghee,’ are being sold in Berhampur every day during this season. It is sold for one month between ‘Dhanu Sankranti’ and ‘Makar Sankranti’ every year, but the demand continues for about 40 days.

Rice flake is stirred with ghee and sugar in a gigantic hot utensil at a temperature of more than 100 degrees Celsius. When the rice flake becomes soft, it is moulded and pressed in different shapes with sprinkling of coconut chunks fried with ghee on it. Nowadays, cherries and cashew nuts are added. After attractive packs, the ‘muan’ remains fit for human consumption for six months, sources said.

‘Dhanu Muan’ is the most favourite delicacy of Goddess Maa Tara Tarini.

More than 150 families in Berhampur have been producing such ‘muan’ for centuries.

Though there is no written history about the origin of ‘muan’, historians believe the sweet was prepared in Ganjam district for ritualistic offering to the deity on Dhanu Sankranti.

It was prepared with jaggery in the past. The sweet manufacturers of Ganjam were the first ones in Odisha to use sugar to prepare sweets replacing traditional jaggery after the first sugar mills on the eastern coast had come up at Aska in Ganjam district during 1963.It is believed that farmers offer ‘Muan’ produced from rice flakes of their fields to the Goddess to be blessed for another bumper crop next year.

They also present ‘Muan’ to their family members, relatives residing outside and friends as a goodwill gesture.

The traditional sweet has undergone a change in taste and looks.

While jaggery has been replaced with sugar, ghee instead of oil is used to prepare the delicacy. To add to the flavours, coconut chunks, cherries and cashew nuts are added. ‘Muan’ is prepared with the use of ‘desi tan Bhandar, Mukta Sweets and Sahu Sweets are rolling out the highest quantities of ‘Ghee Muan’ in Berhampur.

The price of ‘Dhanu Muan’ has slightly increased this year due to rise in the price of ghee, coconut and the cost of labour.

The price ranges between Rs 100 and Rs 500 per kg and is available in 2 kg, 1 kg, 500 gms and 250 gms packets. Varieties of ‘Muan’ including ‘Sada Muan’, ‘Masala Muan’, ‘Ghee Muan’, ‘Kaju Muan’, ‘Guda Muan’ and others have flooded the market. But, ‘Ghee Muan’ is in great demand.