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Gourmands who swear by the flavour and texture of the Hilsa fish, which is a major delicacy in West Bengal, have made a beeline for a festival here to gorge on their favourite dishes. The festival featured wide variety of delicacies made of Hilsa fish and is attracting a huge crowd, as this fish is a favourite among all the Bengalis. From time immemorial, Bengalis have been passionate about Hilsa fish, a strongly flavoured, white-fleshed fish known for its mouth-watering aroma while being cooked. Legislator and chief organiser of the festival, Paresh Pal, said this festival is being organised from many years as Hilsa is famous all over India and people enjoy having it. "The Bangladesh government has imposed a temporary ban on export of Hilsa fish because this year due to deficit rainfall in the region the quantity of Hilsa fish was less. People prefer breaking their fast by having Hilsa fish during Ramadan. But I believe that the ban would be withdrawn after Ramadan," said Pal. Recipes on offer include boneless Elish, a steamed fish dish called 'Bhapa Elish', fish cooked in poppy seeds called 'Elish Posto', a creamy preparation of Elish Malai, fried fish in the form of 'Tele Mashla Bhaja Elish', a sour fish preparation of 'Elish tok', Hilsa cooked with mangoes, Hilsa cooked with tamarind and many more. For visitors, obsessed with Hilsa fish, the taste of the fish is so incredible that they refuse to miss any opportunity to savour it, even though they have to wait in long queues. "Such a festival is a benefit for us also because we do not have to cook then and Sunday will be great. But the queue is too long but for Hilsa we can do anything," said a visitor, Runa Das. India is hopeful that Bangladesh will lift the ban on Hilsa fish exports after Ramadan concludes. However, the dazzling silver creature that was declared the National Fish of Bangladesh upon the country gaining independence in 1971, now has become a rare sight on dining tables in Bangladesh itself due to rising prices. Further, the domestic shortage experienced in Bangladesh is attributed to huge and consistent demand from India . Hilsa, known as 'ilish' in Bengali parlance, is mainly a sea species but prefers to lay its eggs in rivers due to absence of salinity and lesser current. It is caught in all major Bangladeshi rivers, such as the Padma, Meghna and Jamuna, and their estuaries leading to Bay of Bengal . India imports Hilsa through legal channels although the illegal trade is much larger, traders say, since it's cheaper and also much less complicated because they bypass customs checks. In 2011, the Department of Fisheries in Bangladesh , 5,376 tonnes of Hilsa was exported to India alone out of total 8,500 tonnes in the fiscal year. The rest went to the ethnic Bangladeshi markets in Europe and America . But the actual exports are likely to be much higher due to active smuggling along the river borders between India and Bangladesh , which are impossible to completely control.

Hilsa fish festival attracts gourmands in Kolkata