South Indian
Nethili Fry (Crisp Fried Anchovies)
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Nethili Fry (Crisp Fried Anchovies) is South Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Clean the nethili by pinching off each head and pulling the gut out with it, then slit the belly with a thumbnail to rinse it. It takes a while, and most fish sellers will do it for you if you ask.
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Rinse the fish in several changes of water and drain them very well in a colander, then pat them dry. Wet fish spit in the oil and will not crisp.
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Mix the red chili powder, turmeric, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, rice flour and salt into a thick paste, add the fish and coat them gently. Let them sit 15 minutes.
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Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pan and lay the fish in a single layer with a few of the curry leaves. Fry on medium high heat 3 to 4 minutes until crisp at the edges, turn them and fry 2 to 3 minutes more. Work in batches.
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Drain on paper and eat them hot beside rice with sambar or kara kuzhambu, and rasam to finish.
Serve it with
A South Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Nethili Fry (Crisp Fried Anchovies), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
A course labelled with another kitchen's name comes from a cuisine in the same family, which is where this plate usually borrows it from.
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Nethili Fry (Crisp Fried Anchovies) carries fish. It is free of the remaining 9 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | Yes | Adai (Tamil Nadu Multi-Lentil Dosa) |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 190 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 5 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 0 g
- Sodium
- 690 mg
- Saturated fat
- 2 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
When to cook it
Nethili Fry (Crisp Fried Anchovies) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
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Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.