Netholi Peera Pattichathu - White Bait with coconut - dry curry

I always thought that netholi was a type of fish. But when I read the wikipedia reference to white bait - it says that they are typically a school of baby fish - and that it could be anything ranging from sardines, anchovies, galaxis, eels - the range is large.  The size of these fish range from 1 to 2 inches and that really seems to be the only criteria.  It is not necessary to remove the heads and guts of these baby fish - it can all be eaten.  In any case they are too tiny to be cleaned.  All I do is place them in a large wok with some rock salt and keep swishing it with water till all the "silvery" water with teeny weeny scales disappear and the water becomes clear.  

White bait is very tasty and though it takes a long time to clean, it disappears very quickly once it is cooked.  Peera Pattichathu is a traditional Kerala recipe and can be made with sardines as well.  Obviously the sardines need to be cleaned and head and bones removed whereas with the whitebait it is all in.

Ingredients:

½ kilo white bait washed and cleaned

Add ½ teaspoon turmeric powder to the whitebait and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Part 1

3-4 table spoons of desiccated coconut

10-12 shallots or 1 medium size Spanish onion, roughly chopped

3-4 green chillies roughly chopped

½ teaspoon cumin – powdered

½ teaspoon black pepper corns – powdered

1 inch piece ginger – roughly chopped

1-5 cloves of garlic – roughly chopped

Small piece of tamarind soaked in 2 tablespoons water and juice extracted

Part 2

2 sprigs curry leaves

½ teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Salt to taste

In a blender, coarsely grind all the ingredients in part 1.  Mix it with the white bait.  Cook in a low flame until all the water evaporates.  Add salt. 

In a separate wok, heat oil and add mustard seeds. When it splutters, add the curry leaves.  When the leaves release their aroma, add the oil and leaves to the fish and mix.

Serve hot with rice and a gravy of your choice.

Note:

The tamarind can be substituted with green mango / lime juice.  If using green mango, you might have to cook it separately and add it to the fish as the fish cooks very fast and the green mango can take longer to cook.