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    Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial Recipe

    Last Updated On: Apr 8, 2025 by Aarthi

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    Meen Peera, also known as Nethili Meen Avial in some parts of South India & Kerala is a delicious fish preparation with coconut, chillies, shallots & spices. This delicious fish is made with anchovies(nethili), raw mango & coconut masala. Learn how to make Kerala style meen peera with step by step pictures and video.

    Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial Recipe

    Nethili Meen Avial | Meen Peera

    Meen peera is an easy recipe. It can be cooked in minutes, I mean it took me around 10 minutes to cook. Anchovies are tiny little fish that takes very less time to cook. This avial has so much flavour and taste amazing with steamed Kerala red rice. It has raw mangoes, which gives a tangy taste. The coconut masala is packed with chillies, cumin, pepper which adds wonderful aroma.

    Table of Contents

    • About Meen Peera (Nethili Avial)
    • Watch Fish Peera | Nethili Avial Video
    • Meen Peera Ingredients
    • How to Clean Nethili Fish (Anchovies)
    • How to Make Meen Peera (Stepwise Pictures)
    • Expert Tips
    • 📖 Recipe Card
    • Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial Recipe | Fish with Coconut

    About Meen Peera (Nethili Avial)

    Meen peera is a Kerala dish in which fish is cooked in a coconut masala. It is also known as fish peera, nethili avial, netholi avial, netholi peera. The fish used in this dish is nethili meen also known as netholi or anchovies. But you can use sardines, or any fish of choice.

    The coconut masala is made with dry red chillies, coriander seeds, shallots, black pepper, cumin seeds and tamarind. This coconut is mixed with fish, raw mangoes and cooked in a clay pot. Raw mangoes adds so much taste to nethili meen, check my mangai nethili kuzhambu.

    Since nethili or anchovies is very delicate in texture, it cooks faster. You should never mix the fish too much else it may break and disintegrate. So the key is to mix the masala into the fish raw and then cook on heat till done. In the end a good drizzle of coconut oil and fresh curry leaves is added for flavour and aroma.

    Similar Fish Recipes,

    Nethili Meen Curry

    Anchovies Thokku

    Nethili Meen Fry

    Nethili Mangai Kuzhambu

    Watch Fish Peera | Nethili Avial Video

    YouTube video

    Meen Peera Ingredients

    nethili meen | anchovies

    Nethili (Anchovies) - Anchovies or nethili fish is tiny fish which is delicate. Don't over mix or over cook, else it may fall apart and disintegrate. In this recipe, you can use any fish.

    Raw Mango - use sour raw mangoes for best taste. Peel and slice then very thinly so it cooks faster along with the fish.

    Coconut - you can use fresh or frozen coconut in this recipe.

    Whole Spices - spices like pepper, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dry red chillies and shallots is used for grinding.

    Curry Leaves - main ingredient which adds flavour to any fish dish also it removes the fishy smell.

    Coconut Oil - anchovies is not so oily fish, so it needs a good amount of coconut oil to be drizzled in the end.

    How to Clean Nethili Fish (Anchovies)

    Anchovies are delicate little fish that takes very less time to clean. Unlike other fish you don't have to peel the skin or remove scales. You need to gently pull the head and remove the innards.

    I used small variety nethili fish (anchovies). You have to remove the head and guts (black innards) of the fish. It can be easily removed by gently twisting & pulling the fish head. Once it is cleaned, add it to an earthernware (clay pot) and rub gently to remove the silver scales. Wash it well in cold water. Strain in a colander and take it in a mud pot.

    close shot of Meen Peera with curry leaves on top

    How to Make Meen Peera (Stepwise Pictures)

    Coconut Masala

    1)take fresh coconut in a blender. I chopped coconut into chunks and added in a blender. You can use freshly grated coconut. Add in dry red chillies to your taste. You can add more or less as per your taste.

    take coconut, add dry red chillies in a blender

    2)Add in coriander seeds, peeled garlic cloves into the blender.

    add coriander seeds, garlic cloves

    3)Add in whole black pepper, cumin seeds into the coconut.

    add pepper and cumin in the blender

    4)Now add in turmeric powder and peeled chopped onions. You can use peeled shallots instead of onions too.

    add turmeric and onions

    5)Grind the coconut mixture to a coarse paste without adding water. The mixture has to be coarsely ground.

    grind coconut to a coarse mix

    Cleaning Nethili Fish

    6)I used small variety nethili fish (anchovies). You have to remove the head and guts (black innards) of the fish. It can be easily removed by gently twisting & pulling the fish head. Once it is cleaned, add it to an earthern ware pot and rub gently to remove the silver scales. Wash it well in cold water. Strain in a colander and take it in a mud pot.

    take anchovies in a pot

    Mixing for Nethili Avial (peera)

    7)Add in peeled and thinly sliced raw mango into the fish. The mango has to be sliced thinly because it has to be cooked at the same time of the fish is cooked.

    add raw mangoes for making Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial

    8)Add in green chillies. I used the small variety of green chillies, so I added it whole. If you are using long green chillies, slit them lengthwise before using.

    add green chillies to Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial Recipe

    9)Add in a handful of fresh curry leaves.

    add curry leaves to the fish

    10)Add in the freshly ground coconut masala.

    add coconut paste to the fish for meen peera

    11)Add in tamarind paste and salt to the mixture.

    add tamarind and salt

    12)I added ¼ cup of water to the blender jar and swirled it around. Pour it back into the pot. Mix well.

    pour in some water and mix well

    13)Now press the mixture into the pot gently.

    press evenly in the pan.

    Cooking Nethili Avial (meen peera)

    14)Place the pot on heat. Cover with lid. Now cook on high heat for 5 minutes.

    place it on heat and cook covered for 5 minutes

    15)The mixture will start to boil at this point like this.

    now the fish is almost cooked

    16)Now use a spoon or a fork to gently mix the avial mixture. Don't mix too much, else the fish may break. Mix it gently.

    mix gently using fork

    17)Once the fish mixture is mixed gently, cover with lid again and cook on medium low heat for another 5 minutes.

    cover and cook again

    Meen Peera (Nethili Avial) Finishing Touches

    18)Now the fish and raw mango will be cooked completely. Add a handful of curry leaves and a good amount of coconut oil into the avial.

    add curry leaves and coconut oil

    19)Cover and let it rest for 10 minutes.

    serve meen peera

    20)Serve with rice.

    meen peera taste best with rice

    Expert Tips

    • Nethili or anchovies are tiny delicate fish. Don't over mix or over cook, else it may fall apart and disintegrate.
    • Mix the masala with the fish and then start cooking.
    • Coconut oil and curry leaves added in the end imparts so much flavour so don't skip that step.
    • It is best to cook this in a clay pot, you can use any pot as you like. 
    • Slit drumsticks can be added in this dish too. 

    More Fish Recipes

    • Fish Biryani Recipe
    • Meen Kuzhambu Recipe
    • Nethili Fry Recipe
    • African Fish Curry Recipe
    • Fish Pickle Recipe
    • Meen Pollichathu Recipe

    📖 Recipe Card

    Meen Peera | Nethili Meen Avial Recipe | Fish with Coconut

    Meen Peera, also known as Nethili Meen Avial in some parts of South India & Kerala is a delicious fish preparation with coconut, chillies, shallots & spices. This delicious fish is made with anchovies(nethili), raw mango & coconut masala. Learn how to make Kerala style meen peera with step by step pictures and video.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Pin Rate
    Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4 servings
    Calories: 263kcal

    Equipment

    • Clay Pot
    • Blender

    Ingredients

    • 250 grams Nethili meen | Anchovies
    • 2 tsp Tamarind paste
    • 1 no Raw mango peeled and sliced thinly
    • 4 no Green chillies slit
    • 3 sprigs Curry leaves
    • 3 tbsp Coconut oil
    • Salt to taste

    For grinding

    • 1 cup Fresh Coconut
    • 4 no Dry red chillies
    • 4 cloves Garlic
    • 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
    • 1 tsp Cumin seeds
    • 1 tsp Black pepper
    • 6 no Sambar onion Shallots
    • 1 tsp Turmeric powder

    Instructions

    • Grind all the ingredients in the list to a coarse mixture. Don't add water when grinding. The mixture has to be dry and coarsely crushed. Set aside.
    • Now take cleaned anchovies, sliced raw mango, slit green chillies, curry leaves, salt, tamarind paste in a kadai. Add the ground masala into the fish. Pour ¼ cup of water into the blender jar, swirl it around and add it into the fish.
    • Use your hands to mix the coconut masala well with the fish. Press the fish into the mud kadai. Now Cover with a lid and put it over heat. Let it cook for 5 minutes on high heat covered. After 5 minutes open the lid, the mixture will be boiling. Now use a fork to gently mix the fish, don’t mix too much else the fish will break. Once it is mixed gently, cover again and cook on medium heat for 5 more minutes.
    • Open the lid and check whether the fish is cooked. Turn off the heat, Now pour in coconut oil and a handful of curry leaves. Cover again and let it sit for 10 minutes.
    • Serve this with rice.

    Video

    YouTube video

    Notes

    • Nethili or anchovies are tiny delicate fish. Don't over mix or over cook, else it may fall apart and disintegrate.
    • Mix the masala with the fish and then start cooking.
    • Coconut oil and curry leaves added in the end imparts so much flavour so don't skip that step.
    • It is best to cook this in a clay pot, you can use any pot as you like. 
    • Slit drumsticks can be added in this dish too. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1servings | Calories: 263kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 75mg | Potassium: 392mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 111IU | Vitamin C: 34mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 3mg
    Tried this recipe?Mention @yummytummyaarthi or tag #yummytummyaarthi!
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    More Kerala Inspired Recipes

    • Arisi Payasam Recipe (Rice Kheer)
    • Mango Pachadi Recipe
    • Arisi Thengai Payasam Recipe
    • Raw Mango Pachadi Recipe
    • Ugadi Pachadi Recipe
    • Chakka Pradhaman Recipe

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    Aarthi

    About Aarthi

    Over the past few years I’ve been on a mission to find and create recipes that I can make from scratch. I hope you enjoy the recipes on this blog as they are tried and true from my kitchen to yours!

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. tamilsasikitchen

      at

      Lovely aarthi... Looks delicious..
      Will try it soon with frozen anchovies....Happy Independece Day

      Reply
    2. Sharmilee! :)

      at

      This one sounds interesting...yummy aviyal

      Reply
    3. Vikis Kitchen

      at

      Nice curry dear. Makes me hungry:)

      Reply
    4. Anonymous

      at

      hi Aarthi
      your recipes are too good thanks for sharing.can I use dry Nethili for this recipe.
      naaz

      Reply
    5. Suja Manoj

      at

      Superb combo,my favorite.

      Reply
    6. Suja Manoj

      at

      Superb combo,my favorite.

      Reply
    7. Aarthi

      at

      @Anonymousyes u can use dry nethili too

      Reply
    8. Anonymous

      at

      your step by step description of cooking method is fantastic. it is easy for us to follow. Keep up the good work.

      Reply
    9. Esh

      at

      Very good one Aarthi...Try with a smaller Nethili it will be much more tasty...

      Reply
    10. Anil kumar

      at

      Add Drumsticks in length cut open too, Will add more tase.

      Reply
    5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

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