Pan-Fried Spiced Bombay Duck Fish (Bombil)

A homemade bombay duck recipe prepared with fresh fish. This fish is briefly dried and then pan cooked in oil with spices.

Jump to:

• 📕 What is Bombay Duck?
• 🐟 Ingredients
• 🔪 How to clean and dry fresh Bombay Ducks?
• 📖 Recipe
• 🍛 Serving
• 🍱 Storing
• 💬 Comments

📕 What is Bombay Duck?

Bombay duck, also called Bombil or Bummalo or Bombay dak in Western India, is a small fish with a large jaw.

They are called that way because their habitat is the Mumbai area, and they are also native to the Gujarat and Diu coast.

This type of lizardfish eats mostly shrimp and smaller fish varieties, and they move about in large swarms.

Their appearance will remind you of deep-sea fish, and the flesh appears like jelly. Interestingly, it is said that they emit a phosphorescent glow in the dark.

Bombay duck is a fish mostly enjoyed as a Monsoon delicacy, and it is somewhat a budget-friendly fish compared to other fish varieties of the Indian fish markets.

The value of the fish rose when the British discovered its intriguing taste, when served with rice and curry.

Everybody along the konkan coast knows the stories of how the British mail trains used to transport the fish to other parts of India, including Goa.

Bombay duck was exported for a very long time to the UK, until it was stopped in 1997 due to freshness “issues”.

This fish is special, not only because of its name, but because it is never consumed fresh. Instead, the Bombay duck is salted, left to dry and then cured with spices.

These cured and pickled bombil fish are so popular in Maharashtra and Goa, that they have been sold commercially packed too. These resemble mackerel parra.

The commercial bombay ducks are dried for much longer than this quick from scratch version. Homemade bombil are dried for a little over 2 hours only.

The then dried fish is seasoned with spices and cooked in a skillet with some oil.

Bombay duck has a strong pungent smell and it tastes unique. Therefore, its use is served with cooked rice, curry such as Masoor dal or a Goan red curry and some sautéed or stir-fried spiced local vegetables called bhajis.

The fish itself shrinks when cooked. It's crispy on the outside but tough on the inside.

🐟 Ingredients

Here is a quick overview, please refer to the universal measurements on the recipe card further below.

• Bombay Ducks — fresh (not dried!)
• Salt — sea salt is preferred, but you can use regular salt too.
• Turmeric, ground
• Red Chili Pepper, ground
• Oil — You can use vegetable oil. I like to use mustard oil for flavor. Furthermore, other neutral cooking oils are great, such as sunflower oil or groundnut oil.

🔪 How to clean and dry fresh Bombay Ducks?

For this recipe, you will have to clean and dry your bombil fish.

Step 1

Cut off the large jaw/head and the fins.

Slice open the fish lengthwise to expose the spine.

Step 2

With a kitchen scissor, cut the bone off the fish. Each fish should be left boneless.

Rinse fish well and pat dry with a kitchen towel

Step 3

With the spine removed, turn around the fish and the fish will be flat.

Place the fish flat on a large plate or tray next to each other and sprinkle the salt over the fish.

Keep another plate or tray over the fish, and keep a weight such as a clean large rock over the plate or tray.

Step 4

Place the tray with the fish in a hot place, such as the sun, for about 2 hours. The fish will lose liquid, and they will dry and shrink a bit.

Step 5

When done drying, pat dry the fish with a paper kitchen towel and season and cook as per the recipe instructions.

📖 Recipe

🍛 Serving

I'm sharing the way the bombay duck is served in Goa (as per Paul's family's customs). The Maharashtrian communities might enjoy this fish a bit differently. Also, east Indians have a version of their own.

Fried and spiced bombil duck is great with Goa rice (a whole rice variety, which is also used to make congee), red curry or masoor daal.

With that always comes a stir-fried or sautéed spiced vegetable side dish, called a bhaji.

🍱 Storing

Leftovers of the cooked fish can be stored in fridge containers. I like to use rectangular glass containers, which can be used in the oven or microwave to reheat the fish.

Note that the fish gets more chewy the next day, so try to avoid leftovers. I recommend preparing a smaller batch instead, or you can clean out your fish and freeze extra pieces to dry and cook another day.