A delicious and lip-smacking fresh fish fry which is also known as Bombli fry or Bombay duck is very popular in Mumbai, Konkan and the western coastal areas.
Bombli Tawa fry is a lip smacking, delicious and popular fish fry dish prepared in most places in Mumbai, Konkan and the Western coastal areas. Made with fresh fish which is called as Bombay duck or Bombli is nicely marinated with few spices and pan fried until golden in colour and crisp. This dish is an ultimate and delightful gastronomic experience for all seafood diners.
Bombay duck is a very popular fish in the state of Maharashtra and Konkan regions especially largely prepared in Mumbai. It is also called as Bummalo or Bombil. This variety of fish is a kind of lizardfish from southern Asia particularly abundant in the Ganges Delta and Arabian Sea of western India. Bombay duck is a small fish, boned and the fresh fish is very delicate and should be gently fried or else will break into pieces. Bombli tawa fry, the fish is moist and succulent from inside and crisp outside.
It goes extremely well with hot steamed rice and dal fry. Bombay duck fish is also sun-dried and used as a condiment. The fresh fish used in curry in tender and soft. It is also very light on spices but tastes exceptionally good. The fresh Bombil fish is gently coated with aromatic spices mostly available at most homes and then pan fried until golden in colour.
When fried to perfection, it makes an incredible snack, delicate, creamy and full of flavours. Fresh Bombay duck is very delicate and a soft fish which is susceptible to spoilage, hence most of the catch is sun dried for further use. Dried Bombay duck is generally fried and eaten with hot steamed rice and dal tadka. The raw dried Bombay duck is awfully salty with a pungent smell and crisp. It has a strong fishy flavour, very salty to taste, brittle and has a crumbly texture.
One bite of fried dried Bombay duck would give the feel of the ocean salt in your mouth, but it is an ultimate gourmet delicacy when served roasted or fried and one should get accustom to the taste to actually like the dish. The Bombay duck or bombil is native to the waters from Mumbai to Kutch in the Arabian Sea and a few numbers found in the Bay of Bengal.
Generally the fish is often dried and salted as its meat does not have a distinctive taste of its own. Hence the dried fish has a fusty strong odour. They are usually transported in airtight containers. Fresh Bombay duck are usually fried and served as a starter in most restaurants in Mumbai, Konkan regions.
Bombay duck is available fresh in Canada in cities with large Indian populations, such as Toronto and Montreal and is generally known as bumla. Although mainly popular with Indians from Bengal, southern Gujarat, coastal Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka, it is increasingly consumed by the other South Asian populations, Bangladeshis in particular.
Bombay duck fish is cooked in various ways in Maharashtra, Konkan, Gujarat etc making flavourful and delicious dishes like Tarapori Patio, Fish Bambole, Bombil batata baaji, Malvani Bomblachi Kalvan and many more. To prepare this crispy, succulent and yummy Bombli Tawa fry, firstly wash, clean fresh Bombay duck fish and cut them into two halves and put in a mixing bowl.
Add crushed green chillies, ginger garlic paste, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, chopped coriander leaves, salt and about 1 tbsp rice flour (this helps in coating the masala to the fish). Mix all the ingredients well so that the fish is nicely coated with the spices. Heat oil in a hot pan or tawa and pan fry the fish pieces until crisp and golden in colour.
Do try it once and you will surely love the taste and ask for more. Click on the link to watch the making of this mouth-watering Bombli tawa fry:
Enjoy Cooking!
