Calcutta: Fish lovers can have a taste of traditional but oft-forgotten dishes with a few taps and touches on their smartphones this Poila Baisakh.

The State Fisheries Development Corporation (SFDC) will start doorstep delivery of cooked fish items through its app from April 15, Bengali New Year's Day.

Smart Fish, launched at the Bengal Fish Fest at Nalban Food Park in January and available for download on Google Play Store, already delivers frozen fish to homes across the city. It will now offer cooked items too.

With restaurants and food delivery apps making ordering in food an easy and quick option, the app's USP will be "fresh catch" and "traditional items rarely made at home".

This is the first time that a producer is reaching out to consumers directly. "Our USP will be fresh catch every day," said Soumyajit Das, managing director of the corporation, which owns 900 hectares of water body for fish farming across the East Calcutta Wetlands, Salt Lake, Rajarhat, Henry's Island, Frasergunj, Digha and other parts of the state. It produces around 15,000 metric tonnes of fish a year and supplies to several eateries.

"The decision to include cooked items was triggered by the growing popularity of the app," Das said.

To begin with, Smart Fish will offer a menu of 50 cooked items. The options include Katlar Rosha, Koi Machher Haragouri, Methi diye Mourola, Rui Machher Jhol with Sojne Daanta, Begun and Bori, a posto-based curry of prawns, Mocha Chingri, Chapila Machher Shukto and Ilish with Kochur Shaak.

"The menu includes dishes that are traditional favourites but rarely cooked in families with working couples," Das said. Take Koi Machher Haragouri for example. The fish tastes sweet and sour on one side and pungent on the other.

The corporation has bought six bikes - taking its fleet to 14 - for delivering the cooked items. The service will be available from Madhyamgram in the north to Garia in the south, an official said.

Orders can be placed from 10am to 5.30pm. Food, packed in microwave-safe containers, will be delivered within four hours. Users can pay online, via credit and debit cards, or choose the cash-on-delivery option while ordering.

"Being a bulk producer, we can offer prices that will be tough for others to match," said Das. A plate of Bhetki Paturi, for instance, will cost less than Rs 100.

The app has 2,700 registrations and takes around 40 orders per day. "Going by the demand for our raw fish, this should be a runaway hit," Das said.