[2] The small bomelon fish caught in Bombay (now Mumbai) was traditionally coated in asafoetida and dried in the sun, becoming pungent with a strong salty taste.

Fried and crumbled, the fish preparation called Bombay duck became a popular condiment in Anglo-Indian cookery.

[3] An 1829 book of poems and "Indian reminiscences" published under the pseudonym "Sir Toby Rendrag" notes the "use of a fish nick-named 'Bombay Duck'"[4] and the phrase is used in texts as early as 1815.

[5] The Bombay duck lives in the tropical areas of the Indo-Pacific, with a discontinuous distribution along the Indian coast.

It has traditionally been caught in the waters off Maharashtra, Gujarat in the Lakshadweep Sea, where it is an important item of the yearly catch.