• 

Anchovies marinated with spices and deep fried in oil to perfection. Crispy, crunchy and flavorful nethili meen fry recipe. It serves as a perfect appetizer and good for side dish too.

Nethili aka Anchovy fry is a very popular dish in South India, be it at home or at restaurant menu. It’s the favourite dish of many. It is prepared by marinating the fish with spices like chilli powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, coriander powder, ginger garlic paste, rice flour, cornstarch and then deep fried until brown and crispy.

Nethili fish fry is a simple and super easy recipe prepared with handful ingredients which are easily available in our pantry. So now you can make this restaurant style anchovies fry at home and serve it as a starter, snack or side dish with meal.

• 

Anchovies fish fry is an amazing fish fry which is loved by all age groups. It is ridiculously delicious and so crispy which will make you ask for more.

This restaurant style nethili fish fry is one of my personal favourite among the many fishes and sea food I love. Even my husband and my kiddo love this as much as I do so we can say its a family favourite dish.

Anchovy is also called nethili or chooda or netholi in different parts of India. Anchovies is a small fish variant. It has tiny bones which are soft. The center bone is not hard as in other big fishes. We need not remove the bones while eating because when fried the bones become crispy and can be eaten as such.

Nethili meen fry aka nethili varuval is a quick fish fry using anchovies. You can also called this nethili meen fry as nethili 65, it is just like the Tamil Nadu’s  famous chicken 65 and prawn 65 recipe. The fish tastes heavenly and spicy which a fish lover should definitely try. This fish fry is so addictive that you can’t stop with few. I am sure you going to love this one!

• 

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE
● Quick and easy
● Needs handful of pantry staples
● Crispy and crunchy
● Can be served as a starter, party appetizer, snacks or side dish with meal.
● Perfectly golden fried under 10 minutes.
● Flavorful
● Ideal for all age groups including kids.

Coming to the recipe, I have used fresh large size anchovies aka nethili fish. I have cleaned the fish well and removed the head and tail too. You can keep the head and tail intact if you wish. Fresh fish taste much better than frozen one. Along with spice masala powders I have used ginger garlic paste and combination of rice flour and cornstarch/cornflour for adding crispness and crunch to the fish. The fish is marinated with the spice mix and kept marinated for a minimum of 30 minutes. Then the fish is deep-fried. You can shallow fry as well.

You can use other small fish for this recipe. The dish tastes best when served with a side combo of steamed rice or as a starter with onion rings, lemon wedges, green chillies and fried curry leaves.

• 

PRO TIPS
● Marinate the fish for longer duration. This will allow the spices to penetrate nicely into the fish and make it more flavorful.
● You can fry the fish ahead of time to avoid rushing at the end moment for any party or gatherings. Just fry the fish for few minutes. You dont need to make them brown and crisp. Just before serving heat oil and drop the previously fried fishes and fry them for a minute. You will get a crisp and crunchy fish.
● Fry the fish on medium flame, just increase the flame to high just few seconds before taking off. Be sure to stir constantly. This will brown evenly and make it crisp.

I made a simple recipe video of this amazing anchovies fry recipe for my readers which I have shared below. Please do watch and SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t yet. It will mean a lot to me and motivate me to come up with more videos for my readers. As always looking forward to your feedbacks!

NETHILI MEEN FRY VIDEO TUTORIAL

I hope you’ll try this authentic South Indian nethili meen fry recipe and do share your thoughts about the recipe with me here.

• 

FEW FISH RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE
● Rohu Fish Curry
● Shallow Fried King Fish
● Pan Grilled Green Masala Fish
● Fish Fingers
● Pan Seared Pepper Fish With Mashed Potato
● Green Chilly Masala Fish
● Karimeen Pollichathu ( Pearl spot in Banana Leaf)
● Fish And Prawn Tandoori Platter
● Garlic & Herbs Prawn With Chili Garlic Yogurt Dip
● Easy Pan Fried Fish
● Easy Fish Fry
● Fish With Spinach (Zero Oil)
● Fish With Fermented Bamboo Shoot (Naga Fish)
● Masor Tenga
● Fish Head With Cauliflower & Potato

All of these recipes are super easy to prepare, ready in no time, and will never disappoint you.

Here’s how I made the amazing anchovies fry.

• 

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients to make anchovies fry:

500 gms anchovies fish/nethili meen
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp coriander powder
2 tbsp kashmiri red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp pepper powder
2 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp corn flour
Juice of half lemon
Salt as per taste
Oil for frying

For Garnishing
Few curry leaves
Green chillies
Onion rings
Lemon slices

Step by step pictorial instructions to make anchovies fry:

In a mixing bowl add in the ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, chilly powder, turmeric powder, pepper powder, rice flour, corn flour, lemon juice and salt. Mix well and make a thick paste. Please do not add water.

• 

Now add in the cleaned anchovies. Mix well together the masala paste and the fish. Marinated for atleast 30 minutes.

• 

Heat oil in a frying pan. When the oil is heated, reduce the flame to low and frist fry some curry leaves until crisp. Remove and keep aside.

• 

Now carefully drop the fish one by one onto the hot oil. Do not over crowd it.

Fry the fish on medium flame for about 3-4 minutes. Then flip over and fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden and crisp. It will take totally approximately 6-7 minutes. Flip over in between for evening cooking.

Remove them and continue the same process with the remaining fish.

• 

Serve hot with fried curry leaves, green chillies, onion rings and squeeze of lemon juice.

• 

NOTES:
● This recipe can be used in other small fish varieties also.
● You can also use egg white of one egg.
● Adjust the chilly powder according to your heat preference.
● You can skip the cornstarch and increase the rice flour a bit if it is not available.
● If you don’t have much time for marination, you can keep marinated for few minutes and fry it. But the longer marination the better in taste.

Well, if you make this nethili meen fry, please do leave a feedback in the comments box below or snap a photo and tag Akum Raj Jamir on Facebook and akumrajjamir on Instagram with hashtag #atmykitchen. I would love to see your creations.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you liked the recipe. Your valuable feedbacks are always welcome, I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you.

Happy Cooking!
Love Akum

• 

Disclosure: At My Kitchen is an Amazon Affiliate, which simply means that if you make a purchase through these links, I will earn a very small commission at no additional cost to you!

Please click on the link if you wish to purchase these products from Amazon.

Nirlon Non Stick Aluminium Gas Compatible Appa Chatti/Appam Pan/kallu with Steel Lid 22.5cm – 1 LTR(26_mm_Classic_AC)

• 

Nirlon Non-Stick PFOA Free 3 Piece Gas Compatible Cookware Utensil Item Set with Supreme Quality

• 

OMORTEX Women’s First Choice 10 Pcs Color Measuring Cups and Spoon Set

• 

Aric Steels Premium Quality Stainless Steel Deep Fry Strainer Wire Skimmer with Spiral Mesh, Professional Grade Handle Skimmer Spoon/Ladle for Spaetzle/Pasta/Chips (16 cm, Pack of 2)

• 

Cello Ornella Mixing Bowl without Lid, 1000ml

• 

Homeleven Plastic, Steel Solid Bowl Set and Wishker – 3.5L, 3 Bowl and 1 Wishker

• 

Simran Handicrafts Beautiful Table Decor Round Shape Wooden Serving Tray/Platter for Home and Kitchen

• 

Homeware Unbreakable 2 Compartments Serving Snacks Platter/Tray Plastic (Black)

• 

Prawn bajji is a delicious and flavorful battered fried prawns spiced with a blend of Indian spices. It is crispy from outside and soft juicy from inside. A  perfect party starter to impress your guest.

This prawn bajji is a spiced and delicious fritter prepared with large prawns. They are marinated in simple spices, then dipped in spiced gram flour batter and fried to perfection. These are so delicious afternoon snacks specially during rainy season. It also makes a great appetizer and a perfect side dish with your meal.

It is made with simple and easily available pantry ingredients and cooking them is just a matter of a few minutes. You can serve these delicious prawn fritters with chai or just like that with some sauce or spicy chutney.

This recipe for the prawn fritters is a typical South Indian recipe with lots of flavour and taste. You just can’t stop with one piece! People of all age group love this prawn bajji. In my home this prawn bajji is an all time hit, my hubby and son loves it very much so it’s a regular in home.

Vegetable bajji and egg bajji are very common and available in almost all the street food corners but bajji with prawns is something interesting and special.

I would recommend to use medium or large sized prawns. The jumbo prawns wouldn’t be a better choice for making bajji.

WHAT IS A BAJJI?

Bajji is a very popular street food of India. It is very popular and common in Tamil Nadu. You can see delicious bajjis in almost all street tea stalls and street food carts. It is an evening snack which is served along with tea. It is mostly made with vegetables most popularly with raw banana, potato, chilli, onion, cauliflower,  brinjal and boiled egg.

I am a great fan of most of the street foods. Apart from the different bajji available I also love indulging in other street food like fried rice, noodles, chilli chicken and the manchurians.

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING PRAWN BAJJI

PRAWN – Large peeled and deveined prawns are used.

OIL – Sunflower oil is used for deep frying the prawn bajji.

SPICES – Pepper, chilli powder is used in prawn marination. In batter spices used are turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder and garam masala powder.

GINGER GARLIC – Ginger garlic paste is used in the recipe.

FLOUR – Mixture if gram flour (chickpea flour) and rice flour is used. Rice flour adds a more crispy outer to the bajji.

LEMON JUICE – Freshly squeezed lemon juice is used in the marination.

BAKING SODA – Baking soda is used to get a fluffy bajji. This is optional, you can omit it if you don’t want to use it.

SALT to taste.

WATER as required for making the batter.

HOW TO MAKE PRAWN BAJJI

This section shows how to make prawn bajji with step-by-step photos and details about the technique with video tutorial. For full ingredients measurements, see the recipe card below.

I made a simple video of prawn bajji for my readers which I have shared below. Please do watch and SUBSCRIBE to my channel if you haven’t yet. It will mean a lot to me and motivate me to come up with more videos for my readers. As always looking forward to your feedbacks!

PRAWN BAJJI VIDEO TUTORIAL

HERE’S A STEP BY STEP PICTORIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE PRAWN BAJJI:

Peel and devein the prawns. Wash in running water nicely and pat dry with clean kitchen towel.

Add in the prawns in a mixing bowl. To this add in the marination ingredients- crushed pepper, chilli powder, ginger garlic paste, salt to taste and lemon juice.

Mix well to combine and allow it to marinate for few minutes or 30 minutes. 

In a mixing bowl add in the batter ingredients- gram flour, rice flour, turmeric powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, garam masala powder, salt as required and baking soda. Mix well to combine.

Add water little by little and make a semi-thick batter flowing consistency.

Meanwhile heat oil in a pan for deep frying.

Now dip the prawns onto the prepared batter and coat the prawns fully.

Drop in hot oil and fry the prawns in a medium flame until its golden and crisp from outside.

Remove and continue with the remaining prawns.

Serve hot with sauce or chutney of your choice along with fried chilli and onion rings.

TIPS & TRICKS:
● The most important part in this recipe is the batter consistency. It shouldn’t  be too thick or too watery. It should be flowing consistency.
● Cooking soda is added for to get fluffy bajjis but do not add excess baking soda.
● Rice flour adds more crispness to the bajji.
● While making the batter, add water little at a time to avoid excess water which result in thin runny batter.
● Heat the oil to smaking hot and then reduce the heat before dropping the battered prawns.
● To check the oil temperature, just put a little drop of batter into the hot oil, it should immediately pop up and flood on the top and should not go down the oil.
● Use medium or large sized prawn for making prawn bajji.
● Do not fry the bajji over high flame, otherwise it will end up uncooked inside.

RECIPE CARD

RECIPES YOU MAY LIKE

Prawn 65
Butter Sauteed Garlic & Herbs Prawns
Prawn Pulao
Dry Shrimp / Prawn Chutney
Aloo Bonda Tarts
Cheesy Chicken Fritters
Chicken 65
Crispy Fried Chicken Drumsticks
Peri Peri Cripsy Chicken Strips
Spiced Fried Chicken Drumstick
Chicken Pakora
Fish Fingers
Pompret Tawa Fry
Nethili Meen Fry/ Anchovies 65

Well, if you make this prawn bajji recipe I’ll be glad if you take out some time and rate the recipe and leave a feedback in the comments box below. You can also snap a photo and tag Akum Raj Jamir on Facebook and akumrajjamir on Instagram with hashtag #atmykitchen. I would love to see your creations.

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog. I hope you liked the recipe. Your valuable feedbacks are always welcome, I love hearing from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every one of you.

Happy Cooking!
Love Akum