The much awaited “silver crop” as they call it in Bengal has finally arrived. The much awaited Padma Hilsa or the Hilsa fish of mighty River Padma, perhaps the world’s tastiest fish has finally arrived to grace the dishes of Kolkatans.
Much to the ecstasy of the Bengali Bhadralok (gentleman) about 50 tonnes of Padma Hilsa on Friday arrived at the wholesale market juxtaposing the iconic Howrah Station. This is the first consignment of an expected 2,420 tonnes of Hilsa each weighing between 800 gram to about little
more than 2 kg that is likely to be sent to India by mid October.
The Bangladesh Hilsa ‘swims’ to India through a cross current of debates and controversies in that country with a sizeable number of people in the new Bangla regime objecting to the export fearing that the transaction might jack up prices there.
However, a top woman politician in the new regime in that country convinced the protesters saying “only Indian can give the best price” for their national fish.
True, the mouth-watering flavour of Hilsa remains the same but diplomacy over it has kept on changing over the years. Like during the previous Sheikh Hasina regime consignments of this exquisite fish came to India as a gesture of friendship. But this time round it comes with a “dose of economics” too says a senior retired diplomat in this side of the border.
The export of Hilsa from Bangladesh has seen fluctuations over the years, with a ban in place between 2012 and 2018. However, Bangladesh has made special exceptions in recent years for Durga Puja, as a gesture of goodwill and cultural diplomacy, said a professor in Dhaka University.
Unlike in other parts of India fish is an item of offer to Mother Goddess in Bengal and so “Hilsa will be offered to Durga who is worshiped besides as a Mother also as the Daughter who is coming home,” said an organiser of the South Kolkata Durga Puja committee.
Cut to its taste. They say the Padma Hilsa is Noor Jehan (Empress) of all fishes. Not for its silvery glaze but for its stupefying odour. So much so that while being cooked, the aroma of Padma Hilsa can drive the neighbour living several houses apart mad. No wonder why erstwhile Zamindars of eastern Bengal would employ country robbers to rob each others’ Hilsa consignments.
Legend has it that Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq of Delhi, succumbed to the lure of Hilsa. If stories are to be believed, then Tughlaq was already suffering from various ailments when he tasted this fish. Mesmerised by its unique taste and flavour, he went on and on for days until he fell to his gluttony.
Cut back to the wholesale market the fish is presently selling for anywhere between 1,400 and 1,600 per kg -- with its size varying between 800 gms and 1.2 kgs. “When bigger size will come the price will breach Rs 2,500 ceiling,” said Netai Pramanik an importer.
“Though we have been eating Hilsa for the past several months, the catches mostly coming from Ganges, Kolaghat and Digha there is nothing Padma Hilsa,” said a Jadavpur University professor whose ancestors hailed from the other side of the border.
“The funda is the more the fish -- which comes from the sea -- swims upwards through the river … the more tasty it is likely to be,” he says reminiscing “when there was no Farakka dam the fish would swim as far as Varanasi or even Allahabad, but not today.
“You can steam it, you can cook it with poppy seeds, with white mustard paste, with onion and ginger, make a simple curry or even wrap it in banana or Haldi leaves and simply steam it … it tastes like heaven any day,” he says wishing prices to come down below Rs 1,000 “so that the poor man can also have a taste of Hilsa during the Durga Pujas.”
