Description
Anchovy — Nethili in Tamil, Netholi or Kozhuva in Malayalam — are the little silver fish that fry up crisp and moreish, usually gone almost before they reach the table.
Loved across communities
A comfort-food favourite in Tamil, Malayali and Sri Lankan homes. Nethili is everyday, affordable eating — a crunchy snack, a quick side, or a tangy curry that makes rice disappear.
Popular dishes
The classic is nethili fry — dusted in spice and shallow-fried crisp — alongside a tangy nethili meen kuzhambu and a Kerala netholi curry brightened with raw mango.
Recipe ideas
Fry them crisp, or drop a handful into a tangy fish sothi. Find more in our seafood recipes.
Prepared your way, packed fresh
We clean them ready to cook — heads off and gutted if you like, or left whole. Every order is prepared by hand, then vacuum-packed in an individually sealed bag and dispatched fresh on the day it leaves us, at £15.50 per kg.
Good to know
Is Anchovy the same as Nethili?
Yes — Nethili in Tamil, Netholi or Kozhuva in Malayalam. These are small fresh anchovies, prized for frying.
What do fresh anchovies taste like?
Sweet and delicate — nothing like the salty tinned kind. Fried crisp, they’re a proper snack.
Do you clean and gut them?
Yes — tell us at checkout and we’ll send them gutted with heads off, or whole if you prefer.
What’s the best way to cook them?
Dust in spiced flour and shallow-fry until crisp, or simmer into a tangy tamarind curry.
How are they packed for delivery?
Cleaned to order, vacuum-packed in a sealed bag and sent chilled, so they arrive fresh and clean with no leaks in the box.
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