Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu, a delicious, spicy and tangy curry made with dry anchovies. Couple of months back, I bought a pack of anchovies from the local indian store here and tried this anchovies curry a couple of times and it's one of my favorite dry fish curry with all the country vegetables. 

But due to the current pandemic situation, i couldn't source all the vegetables needed for that curry, and i was not satisfied with the taste, so kept the pack aside for a while. Later one day when talking to Amma  casually mentioned about the dry anchovies that i had and not able to source all the vegetables.

Immediately she gave me the idea of making it in a slightly different way, as always the next day I gave itself a try to pair with uluntha soru. OMG, it was so delicious and even ST liked it so much given the fact that he is not a fan of both the ulunthu soru and karuvadu kuzhambu but his exact word during that lunch day was "Amirthama iruku". What else do I need, right?? 

So glad that I nailed the recipe !!! In our family, we have the habit of adding boiled eggs to the karuvadu kuzhambu whether it's served with plain white rice or ulunthu soru, so i'm also following the tradition and always serve boiled egg with dry fish curry. 

Back in school and college days, though i like the karuvadu kulambu so much, i didn't mentioned about it when that topic came mainly because most of the people gave you that weird look and ask "Nee athuellam sapduviya??/Do you eat such things?". 

Still wondering why karuvadu comes under disgusting food, may be because of this strong umami flavor and have heard people say the same reason over the years including the die heart non vegeterian lovers. But me, I like karuvadu especially for its flavor. If you like dry fish like me, then you must give a try on these curry !! Now let's check on how to make this super delicious nethili karuvadu kulambu

Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu | Dry Anchovies Curry

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Dry Anchovies, Nethili Karuvadu, Karuvadu kulambu, Nethili kuzhambu, Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu,Dry Fish Curry, Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu, a delicious, spicy and tangy curry made with dry anchovies.

Sandhiya https://www.facebook.com/SandhiyasCookbook https://www.instagram.com/sandhiyascookbook/

Ingredients

Nethili Karuvadu/ Dry Anchovies - 20 

Drumstick - 1/2

Garlic - 8  cloves

Tomato -1(small)

Tamarind - small gooseberry size

Fenugreek seed - 1/4 tsp

Curry leaves - few

Salt - to taste

Red chili powder -1/2 tsp

Coriander powder - 1 & 1/2 tsp 

Turmeric powder -1/4 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

To grind

Grated coconut - 3 tbsp

Peal onion - 2 

Garlic pods - 3 cloves

Cumin seed- 1 tsp

Procedure

First soak the dry anchovies in warm water for 30 minutes and clean it well. Soak the tamarind in water for 30 mins. Cut the drumstick into 2 inch length and slit it vertically. Peal the garlic and keep it ready. In a mixie jar, add the ingredients listed under "To grind" and grind into smooth paste.

Heat the pan with oil, temper the fenugreek seeds and then add the garlic and curry leaves. Saute the garlic in the oil for 2-3 mins, then add the drumsticks and saute them for couple of mins.

Next add the tomatoes and spices(turmeric,red chili and coriander powder) and roast it in the oil for 30 secs.Take care to not burn the spices.

Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add into the kadai immediately. Add the required salt for the curry(Keep in mind that some dry anchovies might have more salt in it, so under do salt here and if needed add more at the end. )

Add the coconut paste and adjust the consistency of the curry by adding more water. Bring into boil and let it simmer for 8-10 mins or until the oil floats on the top.

Once the raw smell leaves from the curry, add the dry anchovies and mix it well.

Keep them covered and let the dry anchovies cook well. 

Tasty Nethili Karuvadu Kulambu is ready.  Serve it with boiled rice.

Notes:

• As i have already mentioned, depends on the salt in the dry anchovies, you can add more or less salt in the curry. Since i had used this packet of dry anchovies earlier, i knew  how much salt is needed, so add it in the curry initially or else i would cook dry anchovies first and after given the taste test only if needed add salt. 
• Even without drumstick, you can make this curry
• In addition to the garlic, you can add some pearl onions too in the curry.

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Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu | Dry Anchovies Curry with Veggies

Neithili Karuvadu Kuzhambu, a spicy and tangy curry with dry anchovies and lot of country vegetables. Here in the curry, i have used brinjal, drumstick,raw mango and drumstick along with dry anchovies. All these veggies give great flavor to the curry,even without any one of the veggies,i never prepared this curry so far.
While making any dishes with dry fishes, always under do the salt, as dry fishes have lot of salt in it,over doing the salt totally spoil the dish. And the other thing is wash the dry fishes well as it has lot of dirt and sand in it especially when you buy from local fish market . The imported dry fish that come in package hardly have any sand,but still it's better to soak for 15 mins in hot water and wash it thrice before using it. 

Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu

Preparation Time : 30 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2 
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients
Dry Anchovies/Nethili Karuvadu - 20 to 25
Tamarind - a goose berry size
Raw Banana - 1/2 
Green Mango - 1/2
Drumstick - 1
Brinjal -1
Green chili - 1
Tomato(small) - 1
Pearl onion -5
Curry leaves - few
Seasame Oil - 1 tbsp
Mustard  -1/2 tsp
To Grind 
Grated Coconut - 1/4 cup
Garlic - 2 pods
Pearl onion -1
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp

Procedure

First soak the tamarind in water for 30 mins.In the meantime, take the karuvadu and soak it in warm water for 15 mins,then remove the head with your finger and wash it in water for atleast thrice and keep aside until use.Then chop the veggies(brinjal,mango,banana,chili) into thick strips, drumstick into 11/2 inch pieces,tomato into small pieces and keep it ready.Heat a kadai with oil, add mustard, let it splutter then add the pearl onions & curry leaves, saute for 1 min, then add the other veggies expect tomato.Saute the veggies in the oil for 2 mins, then add the tomatoes & karuvadu one by one, give a good mix with the veggies.Extract the tamarind juice from the soaked tamarind and add it into the veggies and then add turmeric powder.Add chili powder & salt and bring to boil.Cover the kadai with lid and cook till the karuvadu and the other veggies are well cooked.In the mean time, grind all the ingredients listed under "To Grind" into smooth paste.Once the karuvadu & veggies are cooked , add the coconut paste and water(if needed) and bring into boil. Cook till oil separates on the top. That's it Tasty & Finger licking Nethili Karuvadu Kuzhambu is ready.

Notes:

• Brinjal, drumstick,raw banana & mango give great taste and flavor to the curry, i highly recommend to add all of these.
• Sesame oil gives great flavor to the curry.
• Nethili and other veggies almost take(10-12 mins) same time to cook.
• Under do the salt as karuvadu already have salt in it.Do the taste test and if needed, add at the end.
• If the raw mango has more sourness, then reduce the quantity of either mango or tamarind.
  

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