Kerala style fish curry with anchovies & raw mangoes…
Spicy, tangy & tasty fish curry with anchovies. Anchovies are small sized fish & is widely available in Kerala. In Canada, it’s not available in the Canadian stores, some Asian stores have it. The other day, I got frozen anchovies from the Kerala store in my city. I was excited to cook with it, fried anchovies tastes delicious.
These are slightly big anchovies. In Trivandrum, Kerala this is called Ko Netholi & in some places it’s called Kozhuva. Whatever you call it, these are really tasty fish. I fried some of the anchovies & the remaining I turned into a curry.
Kerala fish curries are spicy & tangy, tamarind is usually added tom impart the tanginess. For this curry, I’ve added raw mangoes which imparted the slightly sour tastes, also the cooked raw mangoes taste really good.
I enjoyed this fish curry with Kerala matta or kuthari rice.
- Coconut oil - 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
- Fenugreek seeds- 1 tsp
- Large shallots, sliced- 4 (or add 10 small or pearl onions)
- Ginger, chopped- 1 tsp
- Garlic, chopped- 2 cloves
- Green chilies, halved- 2
- Curry leaves- 10 leaves
- Kashmiri red chili powder- 1 tbsp
- Turmeric powder- ¼ tsp
- Coriander powder- 1 tbsp
- Tomato, chopped- 1
- Salt- 1½ tsp
- Water- 1 cup
- Anchovies, netholi- 15 to 20
- Raw Mango, diced- 1, medium sized
- For making this curry, I've used big anchovies, known as Ko Netholi or Kozhuva in Kerala.
- Instead of tamarind, I've added raw mangoes. If you don't have raw mangoes, soak 2 inch slice fresh tamarind in ½ cup lukewarm water for 5 minutes, squeeze the tamarind in water, strain the tamarind extract.
- Place a clay pot or saucepan over medium heat.
- Add coconut oil, let turn hot.
- Add mustard seeds, let splutter.
- Add fenugreek seeds, saute for a few seconds. Do not burn the seeds.
- Add small onions or shallots, saute for 2 minutes.
- Add curry leaves, chopped ginger, garlic and green chilies. Saute till onions turn golden in color.
- Add Kashmiri chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and salt. Combine well.
- Add chopped tomato, combine well.
- Add water and cook till water comes to a slight boil.
- Add anchovies and diced mangoes, combine well and cook covered for 15 minutes.
- Anchovies will cook really fast, don't over cook they will break apart.
- Taste and add more salt if required.
- If the gravy is thick, add some water to thin it down & cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and keep covered for some time.
- Enjoy with rice, chapati, idiyappam, appam, orotti, pathiri, puttu, etc.
