Keto Netholi Thoran - Anchovies cooked in Coconut

I am ready with the first recipe for this blog. A simple and flavorful Netholi(anchovy) thoran with minimal ingredients and spices. This is how I make it..

Ingredients:

Fresh Netholi(Anchovy) - 250gms
Coconut - grated - 30gms
Onion - chopped - 30gms (you can also use shallots)
Green chilli - 1 (or according to your taste)
Jeera (Cumin) powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Salt - according to your taste
Curry leaves - a small handful
Water - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Method:

Fillet the anchovies and remove the bones. Its easy to fillet big or even medium sized anchovies. The small ones can be fiddly to fillet. You can leave the bones in..but, you will be fighting them while eating.

Coarsely grind the grated coconut, the onions and the chilli into a paste without adding any water. I prefer to use onions than shallots as shallots are denser in carbs than onions. But, use shallots if your macros allows.

Heat a kadai on the stove without oil.Add the coconut+onion paste and curry leaves to the kadai. As it warms up, add  the water and the spice powders. Mix it all up and then add the filleted anchovies to the mix. Cover the kadai with a lid and let this cook for about 8 to 10 mins.

Remove the lid and cook it further till the water dries up. Switch off the flame when its decently dry. If you want the authentic Kerala flavor in this dish, add some coconut oil to the dry thoran and mix and close the kadai for about 5 mins with the flame switched off. Plate it all up and have a high-protein meal for yourself.

Tip: If you want to limit the hotness of the ground chilli, avoid grinding it and just add the chilli with a slit when you add the coconut paste to the kadai.

Macros:
Energy: 445 kCal
Proteins: 52.2g
Fats: 22.18g
Carbs: 7.37g