Tuesday, July 05, 2011

A Fishing trip ! To Mahims City Lights Fish Market in Mumbai! (Vegetarians and animal lovers might not like some pics)

After my fabulous experiences at the Seafood festivals I visited I thought it was time to visit a fish market. So I planned a market day with my friend food writer Vikram Doctor. Vikram is nuts about seafood, as I discovered on a press trip to Turkey with him a while ago, so there could not have been a better guide for this trip. But we also had the company of another seafood loving friend of his to help us make the best, most delicious selections and haggle with the fisherwomen (which requires expert intervention!)

So after our morning walkabout of Matunga, we made our way to Mahim bazar, better known as City Light bazar one of the best fish markets in Mumbai. Having heard noisy places described as Fish markets all my life, I was apprehensive about what I would find. But it was very clean and really not very noisy at all. Maharashtrian Moushies or auntys rooled the roost, stern contenances quickly breaking into smiles if they made a sale or if my camera touting self pointed my lens in their direction. A handfull of men were relegated to the fringes, selling dried fish, gavti chicken and Bengali fish. Yep the only male fish sellers in the place were the Bengali fishermen, expertly slicing Hilsa and Rohu on huge Botis.

Smaller fish are found at the outer edges of the market, and larger ones in the middle. I saw (and bought) Surmai (Kingfish), Bombil (Bombay Duck), Shark,  Kateri, Mandeli, Modak, crab, clams mussels, Halwa and lots more. I will stop writing and get to the pictures now. 

Gyaan and links 
Here is the link to the Matsyagandga Seafood festival I wrote about a few months ago, the Matunga Market trip we took earlier the same day and one of my favourite stemed fish recipes
The entrance
The famed Bombay duck or Bombil
Shark
we are waiting for the spoils - lots of adorable beautiful cats all over!
Pomfret in different sizes!
The fisherwomen mean business!
Prawn lady!
Surmai or Kingfish!
Larger fish inside.
The Bengali Fishermen
Pomfret and Halwa

Fish head
Crabs and shell fish
Crabs
Smiling for the camera !
Dried fish seller
Gavti chicken shop
And another
Pomfret!
Another little hopefull!
Cant remember the name fo this one but Vikram said it was rare!
THe Fisher woman will prep yor fish for you, scaling it...
and cutting it to specification...
removing gills...
Fins and bones!
And cutting as you would like it!
Modak, reputedly delicious!
Prawns and Pomfret...
Mandeli, Bombay duck, Kateri (i think) and the little wormy things in the middle are tiny tiny prawns, great for making into bhajiyas or fritters.
Surmai or Kingfish "steaks" being sliced for me. Rs 300 for 4 slices!

9 comments:

Iain Mallory said...

Great images almost felt as if I was there, fish markets can be pretty intense places thanks

Saee Koranne-Khandekar said...

Drool! My fisherwoman has been boring me with a constant supply of pomfret and prawns. Dying to eat something else. Wish I was closer to this fish market!

Stuti Mehra Sriram said...

Its simply awesome! I am new to Bombay and live in Kandivali (W)...Can you suggest some goof seafood market nearby?

Thanks :)

Meenakshi said...

Gorgeous pictures! My favourite is the cat, she's adorable and plump! I bought some fish from Hypercity today and after reading your post I feel like a traitor :(

kam said...

Really enjoyed the pictorial presentation. Should publish this in an international mag like National Geographic

kam said...

Excellent pictorial presentation. National geographic would love it. Makes you feel you are there.

fishing in tasmania said...

Nice fish markets!I want to say that this article is amazing, great written and include approximately all vital infos. I would like to look extra posts like this .

Jagatguru Kripalu ji Maharaj said...

Nice display of fishes. I feel like grabbing them all. They are so fleshy.

Unknown said...

Where exactly is it located?