Check out the fish marinating in the spice paste below. This is carefully prepared by balancing the flavours perfectly, and honestly, takes practice to perfect. The amount of heat, salt, and other ingredients you need to use will also depend a lot on personal preference. My mom also adds an egg to the marinade sometimes to make the spice coating fluffier and tastier. No matter whether you use eggs or not, this recipe will still yield a delicious nethili fry! If you love fish as much as I do, check out this Bengali fish fry, Kerala fish fry, fish peera, and also fish moilee, the popular Kerala fish stew.

Nethili Meen Fry / Fried Anchovies Recipe

Serves: 2-4 Recipe source: Amma Ingredients: 250gm nethili meen / anchovies 2-3 tbsp maida / plain flour or half an egg Oil to deep fry For the marinade: 8 shallots 3-4 cloves of garlic 2″ piece of ginger 1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to taste) A pinch of turmeric powder 1/4 tsp pepper powder Salt to taste Water as needed Instructions:

  1. Clean the fish and cut / pinch off the head part. I have never cleaned fish so no tips from me here, sorry.
  2. Grind all the ingredients for marinade into a smooth paste. Mix in with the fish and set aside for atleast an hour.
  3. Heat enough oil to deep fry about 1/4th the fish at a time. Before frying, mix in half the egg or the maida and make sure its well incorporated into the fish-marinade mixture. This gives a nice texture to the fried fish.
  4. Fry until nicely browned. At home we prefer fish that’s not fried to the bones so that the flesh is still soft. Go with what your heart says.