Dried Bombay Duck Chilli Fry (Sukha Bombil)

Bombay Duckis popularly known as Bombil. It is cooked & relished across coastal regions. Previously, all dried fish & seafood especially dried bombil was cooked during the heavy monsoon season but now it is cooked throughout the year. Cleaned & marinated bombil is easily available in plastic, polythene & zip locked bags in shops in Goa & many places in the Konkan & coastal belt. You may even find them in some speciality shops as well.

Today’s recipe is very simple but very tasty. It tastes awesome with bhakri made with rice, jowar or bajra. It is also enjoyable with dal & rice or with bread/pav. This time when I made this delicious Dried Bombay Duck Chilli Fry, we enjoyed it with rice bhakri. Do give this dish a try… you may want to make this quite often! Enjoy 😀

Ingredients

50 gms. Dry Bombay Ducks ( Sukha Bombil)
3 large Onions (peeled & chopped or sliced)
2 large red Tomatoes (chopped)
2 fresh Green Chillies(remove seeds if you want it less spicy)
5 cloves fresh Garlic (finely minced)
1 tsp. fresh Ginger (peeled & grated)
¼ tsp. Turmeric pwd.
½ tsp. red Chilli pwd. or Kashmiri Chilli paste
2 tsps. Sugarcane Vinegar or Vinegar as per choice
A pinch of Sugar
A pinch of Pepper pwd.
4 tbsps. Vegetable Oil
Salt as per taste
A handful of chopped Coriander Leaves (chopped)

Procedure :
First clean the bombil by cutting of the heads, fins & chopping off the tails.

Cut each bombil into three pieces; wash, immerse them in a bowl of water & let them soak for about 20 mins.

Drain out the water completely & flake them.

Discard the central bone or retain it if you wish.

Heat a wok/ kadhai /frying pan with oil till hot.

Reduce heat & sauté lightly ginger, garlic, green chillies till rawness disappears for about a minute.

Then add onions & sauté till they turn soft & translucent.

Add the chopped tomatoes, chilli pwd. or chilli paste, turmeric pwd.,a pinch of salt, sugar & pepper pwd. & cook till tomatoes turn soft & oil starts separating from the mixture.

Then toss in the flaked bombil & stir fry for about 3 mins. on high flame.

Add vinegar & stir well.

Adjust salt to taste.

Reduce heat & then let it cook for about 5-7 mins. on low flame.

Add the chopped coriander leaves & stir once.

Serve hot with any bhakri of your choice or with bread or pav or on the side with rice & dal.

Tips & Variations :

You may wash & drain the water & then marinate them in the spice mix if you like. (Mix together chilli pwd.or chilli paste, turmeric pwd., vinegar & some salt. & apply to the bombil).
You can also marinate in rechado masala if you so prefer. Refer here.
You may add potatoes to the chilli fry as per your preference.
You may use kokum/ amsol instead of vinegar or even a combination of both.