Netholi / Kozhuva / Anchovies Peera

Netholi / Kozhuva / Anchovies Peera

A tasty side dish with rice in Kerala cuisine !!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For fish:

250 g netholi

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon salt

Wash and clean fish. Drain out water completely. In a wide bowl, marinate fish with turmeric powder and salt. Cover and keep aside for half an hour.

For coconut mixture (thenga thirummiyathu):

4 tablespoon grated coconut

10 shallots (chuvannulli / sambar onion), finely sliced

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

3 green chillies, finely chopped

6 curry leaves

Mix all the ingredients and keep aside. Do not add water when mixing.

Other ingredients

2 kudampuli (soak in 2 tablespoon water for half an hour with ¼ teaspoon salt. Remove kudampuli and strain the soaked water. Reserve soaked water carefully.

1 teaspoon cooking oil

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Method

In a meen chatty or earthen pot, / kadai / pan, mix marinated fish and grated coconut mixture. Add kudampuli and reserved soaked water (may be 2 tablespoon). Adjust salt to taste. Cover with a tight lid and cook on a low heat for 10 – 12 minutes unitil done / well cooked.

Final seasoning :

Heat oil in a wide pan. Add mustard seeds. When they crackle, add cooked netholi mixture, cover again and cook on a very low heat for 5 – 7 minutes. Open the lid and stir continuously for 2 -3 minutes until the water dries up ( another suggestion is just mix the cooked netholi / kozhuva with 1 – 2 teaspoon coconut oil (pachavelichenna). No need to add mustard seeds. Seasoning preparation is different in each part of kerala). Serve as a side dish with rice.