Netholi /Nethili Meen Fry/Chooda /Podimeen Varuthathu /Kerala Style Fried Anchovies

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day...what did you all do?? For us it was just another day in our calendar but my girls are very much aware of hearts day and they had a fun time at their class party with lots of goodies and they did a great job by making a special valentine's card for their Mom & Dad :-)

My girls shared their love & thoughts as  Mom - Magnificent, Overlooking, Marvelous and  Dad - Dependable, Awesome, Delightful.. Isn't that cool ? It's priceless to us ! that made our day so special...what better a parents could hear from the kids :-)  

Back to business, Lately we are trying to eat more fish dishes into our diet and go healthy for some time now. As you might know in Kerala, among non-vegetarians, dishes of fish are most preferred and staple one, so we love fish in our house and not only they are healthy and they are easy to prepare.

Anchovies serves as a excellent source of calcium, proteins, vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids, all of which are very important for all age group, especially best for the growth of growing children. Unfortunately, anchovies are also high in sodium and cholesterol, which means they should be eaten in moderate amounts especially if you have a history of hypertension or heart disease. Whatever...this is one delicious dish we all love in our house and this is a long due recipe for me...though I make this often, by the time I finish my all other work, it will be finished by then :( Some how this time was lucky enough to save a bowl full to get pictures. :-)

Back home in Kerala, this particular fish fry is also one popular dish served in  Toddy shops  and it is referred as Shappile Podimeen Varathathu. Usually for this preparation we deep fry it; if you don't wanna deep frying then shallow fry it or even bake till its dry. 

Do try it if you get hold of Anchovies, it is amazingly good & healthy too..Enjoy!

Recipe for Netholi / Chooda /Kozhuva Fry/Kallushap Style Podimeen Varuthathu / Kerala Style Fried Anchovies

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

CookingTime : 10-15 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

Netholi/ Chooda /Kozhuva/Anchovy :  1 lb 1/2 kg (fresh or frozen)

Red Onion : 2 (medium, thinly sliced) 

Ginger : a small piece (minced)
Garlic : 4 cloves (minced)

Turmeric powder : 1/4 tsp

Red Chilli Powder : 2 tbsp or as per your spice level 

Fenugreek powder :1/4 tsp
Black peppercorns : 1/2 tsp (freshly crushed)

Lime Juice : 2 tsp

Curry leaves : handfull

Salt to taste
Coconut Oil as needed for frying

Method of Preparations : 

1. Clean and wash the fish  with lime juice and salt and marinate the anchovies /netholi/chooda meen with all other ingredients listed above, except coconut oil and set it aside for 30 minutes.
2. Heat coconut oil in a  pan and deep fry fishes in batches over medium flame, until it is done. Drain on kitchen tissue and serve immediately..Enjoy!!

Note : 

• Make sure you keep the heat at medium low, so that everything gets fried evenly. 
• This is a very hot dish so increase or decrease chilli powder and pepper powder as per your tolerance. Optional - To bring down the heat, substitute red chilli powder with kashmiri chilli powder or paprika. 
• If you wish you can add any other oil, using coconut oil gives authentic taste and flavor. 

Related Posts : 

Meen Varuthathu /Kerala Fish Fry

Kallumakkaya /Kadukka Varattiyathu /Mussels Fry

Chemmeen Varattiyathu /Spicy Prawns /Shrimp Fry

Chettinad Meen Varuval /Fish Fry

Click here for more Fish Recipes

Cheers!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy Valentine's Day ! I know there are a lot of mixed feelings out there about Valentine's Day. I’m not usually a cheesy V-Day person, but I decided to make these treats for a few reasons.

Just in time for you to bake these for the ones you love to celebrate Valentine's Day and if you're not into celebrating Valentine's Day, just make these as a sweet treat to yourself, especially if you're a chocolate lover ! Secondly, I need to send some goodies to my lil one school V-Day party;  when i asked her, how do we make it special ? without second thought the answer popped up was 'chocolate cupcake' her favorite and even I thought it would be very Valentine-ey !

So, instead, I decided to share it with you all today; I wanted to come up with a recipe that my girls and I could make together to impress both her friends and teachers and be enjoyed by the whole family. 

Did you notice frosting and sprinkles on the cupcake? Oh, yeah..my girls did the frosting and decorating and they had so much fun decorating own cupcakes with fluffy icing ! They also decorated a special cupcake for Daddy to surprise him with after dinner. He loved it :-) 

Getting your kids cooking and having them associate the kitchen is fun. I love watching my little ones get excited and feel empowered making their very own treats, but to be honest I can do without the mess left behind after the final product :(

Stories apart, coming to recipe; Adapted from ??? There are some recipes I return to again and again. Whenever I make chocolate cake or cupcake, I always use the same recipe of Moist Chocolate Cake from here Why? Because it will never fails..It makes the best moist chocolate cake, hands down ! so followed the same..

So dive in, make these sweet treat for yourself, your Valentine, or whomever you so choose! And if you love it, do not forget to come back and share your feedback...Enjoy!

Recipe for Moist Chocolate Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Preparation Time : 25 minutes
Baking Time : 20 minutes + 10 mins for Preparing Frosting and Decorating

Makes : 24

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour : 2 cups

Sugar : 2 cups
Hershey's Cocoa : 3/4 cups
Baking Soda : 2 tsp
Baking Powder (Optional) : 1 tsp (This will make the cake rise just a little bit more than using the Baking Soda only)Eggs : 2 ( large eggs)
Salt : 1 tsp
Buttermilk : 1 cup
Vegetable Oil : 1 cup
Vanilla Extract : 1 1/2 tsp
Boiling Water : 1 cup

Method of Preparation  :

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.
2. Combine all the ingredients, except the cup of boiling water into a mixing bowl.
3. Mix at medium or medium high speed for a minute, now add 1 cup of boiling water and continue to mix until all ingredients are blended and smooth.
4. Pour the batter evenly between the prepared liners.
5. Bake it for 18-20 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If not bake it for an additional 5 minutes and then test again.
6. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and invert them onto wire rack and let it cool completely. 

Recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting 


Ingredients :

Cream Cheese : 10 oz chilled
Unsalted butter : 6½ tbsp at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar (sifted) : 3¼ cups
Vanilla Extract : 4 tsp

Method of Preparation :

1. Combine the cream cheese and butter in the medium bowl.
2. Beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes with hand mixer or electric mixer.
3. Add in the confectioners’ sugar and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat 2-3 minutes more.
4. Blend in the vanilla.

Frost cupcakes and decorate it further with sprinkles or your desired decoration. Serve and Enjoy!

Click here for more Valentine's Day Recipes.

Happy Valentine's Day!