Nethli Meen varuval / Anchovies Fry

Anchovies fry, Nethli meen varuval in Tamil - this is one of my favorite fish food, simply superb and irresistible. This is a simple fish fry recipe marinated with spice mixture and deep fried. In my hometown this fish most commonly used for making fish gravy. This is one of the best fish to make fish gravy, but i love to make fry with this. This crispy fish fry can be eaten with bones, they wont stick to your throat as they become soft and crunchy when fried. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1/4 kg Anchovies fish
• 1 1/2 tbsp Chilly powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
• 1/2  tbsp of  Tamarind extract or lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Bengal gram flour
• 1 tsp Rice flour
• Salt to taste
• Oil for deep frying
• Few curry leaves

Method

• Discard the head and tail part of the fish. Wash and clean it and keep aside.
• In a bowl mix together chilly powder, turmeric powder, salt ginger garlic paste, tamarind extract, bengal gram flour, rice flour and make a paste. if needed add little water to it and then make paste.
• Next add the anchovies to the marinated mixture and coat well the mixture on all fishes evenly and marinate for 1 hour.
• Then heat oil oil in a wok and deep fry the fish and place them on kitchen towel.
• Finally add some deep fried curry leaves to the fish and serve with rice.