Nethili Meen Kulambu – A traditional fish curry recipe from South India. The spicy, tangy and delicious Nethili fish curry goes well with Steamed Rice or Idly or Dosa. 
Nethili fish is called as Anchovies in English, Natholi or Kozhuva in Malayalam and Nethallu in Telugu. Nethili fish is a small variety of fish. It is just a finger length fish. Nethili Fish has tiny bones which are soft and can be had as such. I started making recipes using nethili only after coming to Chennai. I love making Nethili fish fry which will have all the good flavours and taste. Steamed Rice along with Meen Kulambu and crispy nethili fry are to die for. Try this combination, I bet you will definitely love it. In every morsel, you can taste the tanginess, spiciness and the crispy fish. Had this Meen Kulambu recipe in draft for a long time and now thought of posting this after making Youtube video. Do checkout the video and Subscribe to the channel.
In this South Indian style Fish curry, I used clay pot(earthenware) for making the curry. The clay pot enhances the taste of the Fish curry to a different level. Also cooking in clay pot has its own benefits. Try to cook in earthenware as much as possible and it has no disadvantages like other cookwares. The recipe which I share in this post is very simple. It requires no grinding. This Nethili meen kulambu is without coconut. It can be prepared pretty quick. Nethili Meen Kulambu stays good for two days even if not refrigerated. Now let’s get on to the recipe! Don’t forget to check out the Video!
How to make Nethili Meen Kulambu
- Wash and Clean the fish in a Colander under running water well. Sprinkle some turmeric powder and mix well. Keep Aside.
- Take a small lemon sized tamarind and soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Meanwhile keep the other ingredients ready. You will lots of shallots. If you don’t have shallots, use onions. Chop shallots or Onions whichever you are going to use. Chop Raw Mango(Manga) into bite sized pieces. Finely chop tomatoes.
- Heat a Clay pot. Once hot, add gingelly oil.
- Add mustard seeds, urad dal and fenugreek seeds(vendhayam).
- Now add 2 slit green chillies, lots of curry leaves and chopped shallots. Cook till shallots turn soft.
- Add turmeric powder, Red Chilli powder and coriander powder. You need to add 1 tbsp of coriander powder. Coriander powder helps in thickening curry. Saute for few seconds.
- Now add chopped tomatoes. You need to cook till tomato turns mushy and forms a gravy(thokku like consistency). Add required salt as it will help in cooking tomatoes faster.
- Add Chopped raw mangoes and a cup of water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3-4 mins.
- Take the soaked tamarind and squeeze well. Discard the fibre. Now add the tamarind juice and 1 cup of water to the curry. Mix well.
- Cook covered for 10 mins in medium flame. You will see oil floating on the top. Taste the curry and adjust salt and spice.
- Now add cleaned Nethili fish / Anchovies to the curry and let it cook for 5 – 6 mins.
- Switch off the flame.
- Serve with Steamed Rice or Idly or Dosa.
Nethili Meen Kulambu Recipe
Nethili Meen Kulambu
Ingredients
- 250 grams Nethili Fish / Anchovies
- 20 - 25 Shallots chopped
- 1 Tomato Finely chopped
- 1 Raw Mango (Manga) chopped
- 1 small lemon sized Tamarind
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 2 tsp Red Chilli powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 1/2 tsp Mustard Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Urad Dal
- 1/4 tsp Fenugreek Seeds (vendhayam)
- 1/4 cup Gingelly Oil
- Salt As Required
- 2 Green chillies
Instructions
How to make Nethili Meen Kulambu
- Wash and Clean the fish in a Colander under running water well. Sprinkle some turmeric powder and mix well. Keep Aside.
- Take a small lemon sized tamarind and soak in warm water for 20 minutes.
- Heat a Clay pot. Once hot, add gingelly oil.
- Add mustard seeds, urad dal and fenugreek seeds(vendhayam).
- Now, 2 green chillies, lots of curry leaves and chopped shallots. Cook till shallots turn soft.
- Add turmeric powder, Red Chilli powder and coriander powder. Saute for few seconds.
- Now add chopped tomatoes. You need to cook till tomato turns mushy and forms a gravy(thokku like consistency). Add required salt as it will help in cooking tomatoes faster.
- Add Chopped raw mangoes and a cup of water. Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 3-4 mins.
- Take the soaked tamarind and squeeze well. Discard the fibre. Now add the tamarind juice and 1 cup of water to the curry. Mix well.
- Cook covered for 10 mins in medium flame. You will oil floating on the top. Taste the curry and adjust salt and spice.
- Now add cleaned Nethili fish / Anchovies to the curry and let it cook for 5 - 6 mins.
- Switch off the flame.
Video
Notes
- Wash the fish very well to avoid bad odours.
- Adjust the spice level according to your taste preferences.
- Coriander powder thicken the curry. So you need to add 1 tbsp of Coriander Powder.
- You can omit Raw mango and use only Nethili Fish.
- You can also add brinjal to this curry.
Tips:
- Wash the fish very well to avoid bad odours.
- Adjust the spice level according to your taste preferences.
- Coriander powder thicken the curry. So you need to add 1 tbsp of Coriander Powder.
- You can omit Raw mango and use only Nethili Fish.
- You can also add brinjal to this curry.
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Very simple recipe!