Irene’s Fabulous Fish Cakes

When I spent several months in Bombay a few years ago seeing to family business, my friend Mehlli Gobhai’s house was an oasis of calm, order, and entertainment. My mother’s kitchen had been dismantled. The hearth was dead. But Mehlli’s was very much alive a few doors away, where I was welcome to eat and cook as one of the family. His cook, Irene, calm and shy, has a wonderful touch. No one ever tires of her fish cakes.

Irene likes to use mackerel and its relatives b