Palla Fish Season in Hyderabad and Sindh

Palla fish is hilsa, a silver shad that lives in the Arabian Sea and swims up the Indus to spawn when the river runs high in the monsoon. In Sindh it is the most prized fish there is, and the place to eat it is below the Kotri Barrage, between Hyderabad and Jamshoro. It is seasonal, bony and expensive: in 2024 fishermen at Kotri told Dawn a single fish was selling for PKR 8,000 to 10,000.

This guide covers what palla is, when it is in the river, where to eat it near Hyderabad, what it costs, why there is so much less of it than there was, and how to get through the bones.

What is palla?

It is the same species Bengalis call ilish and much of the world calls hilsa, a member of the herring family. It is an oily fish, which is where the flavour comes from. Females grow larger than males, up to about 55 cm, and a good Indus palla weighs from about 700 grams to a kilo.

The fish is anadromous, like salmon: it feeds at sea and climbs rivers to breed. Mohammad Moazzam Khan of WWF-Pakistan, a former head of the federal marine fisheries department, told Dawn that palla move in shoals, cover 60 to 70 km a day against the current, enter the Indus around May or June, and spawn in the river before going back to the sea early the next year.

When is palla season?

It follows the water, not the calendar. Palla come up only when enough fresh water is flowing past Kotri to the sea, and that happens when the summer flood arrives and the barrage gates are opened. That puts the run in the monsoon months, broadly June to September.

In a dry year, when little or no water is released below Kotri, there may be almost no run at all. In a flood year there is far more. Sindh also bans sea fishing through June and July each year to protect breeding stocks, which limits what comes in from the coast in those weeks.

If you are in Hyderabad between October and April and are offered "fresh palla", it is very likely frozen, or imported hilsa from Myanmar, which has been sold in Sindh for at least twenty years. It is the same species but not the same fish: the belief in Sindh is that palla tastes right only after it has swum in the fresh water of the Indus.

Where to eat palla near Hyderabad

The Kotri Barrage, also called the Ghulam Muhammad Barrage, crosses the Indus between Hyderabad and Jamshoro. It was completed in 1955 and has 44 gates. It is the last barrier on the river before the sea, so this is as far upstream as palla now get, and it is where the boats work.

• Restaurants at the barrage. Simple restaurants near the barrage fry palla to order in season. This is the classic way to eat it.
• Buying from the fishermen. The men who fish below the barrage sell direct, which has been the cheapest way to buy. Ask whether a restaurant nearby will cook it for you.
• Hyderabad's fish markets and restaurants. Some carry palla in season, but ask before you sit down; most ordinary restaurants do not.

From the centre of Hyderabad the barrage is about 7 km, a 15 to 20 minute drive or rickshaw ride. Go in the evening, when it is cooler. Our guide to places to visit in Jamshoro covers what else is on that side of the river.

How much does palla cost?

A lot, and the price is per fish, not per plate. Figures reported by Dawn:

• At Kotri, 2024: PKR 8,000 to 10,000 for one fish, according to a fisherman there.
• Fried at a restaurant by the barrage, 2024: about PKR 7,000 for a smaller fish.
• About 2021: roughly PKR 5,000 for a one-kilo fish bought directly from fishermen.

Prices change week by week with the catch, and they have only risen. Always ask what the fish costs, and whether that covers cooking, before it goes in the pan.

Why did palla become scarce?

Because the river was dammed. Palla once swam hundreds of kilometres up the Indus; the fishermen's tradition is that the fish goes to pay its respects at the shrine of Khwaja Khizr, known as Zinda Pir, on an island in the river near Sukkur, about 300 km north of Kotri, and comes back with a turmeric-coloured mark and a better taste. The barrages at Sukkur, Kotri, Taunsa and Guddu cut that journey short, and Kotri, finished in 1955, is now where it ends.

Kotri also decides how much water reaches the delta. In years when almost none is released, the fish have no river to enter. Fishermen add a third cause, a fine-meshed net known as bolo gujjo, banned but still used in the delta, which takes palla only six inches long.

The official catch shows how far it fell and that it can recover:

WWF's Khan links the recovery since 2020 to the wetter years in which the Indus has again been reaching the sea near Thatta. The men who fish below Kotri still say they bring in a handful of fish a day where their fathers caught hundreds.

How is palla cooked, and how do you eat it?

In Sindh it is most often deep fried with a rub of local spices, cooked slowly with onions and potatoes as a full meal, or grilled over coals. The roe, called aani in Sindhi, is fried alongside and served with the fish, and is treated as a delicacy in its own right.

The difficulty is the bones. Palla has a great many, fine and sharp, running through the flesh.

1. Eat it with your fingers. You cannot find the bones with a fork.
2. Take small pieces, press each between finger and thumb, and pull the bones out before it goes in your mouth.
3. Do not give it to small children unless you have picked it over yourself.

Is it worth seeking out?

If you are in Hyderabad in the monsoon months and like fish, yes. It is the dish most closely tied to this stretch of the Indus, and the barrage is worth seeing in any case.

If you are on a budget, dislike bones, or are visiting in winter, skip it and try the rest of the city's food, which our guide to Hyderabad's famous food covers. The barrage fits easily into the one-day Hyderabad itinerary.

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