Deep fried baby sardines or "tharu bhuthai fry"

"Tharu bhuthai" is a tulu word which means "baby sardines".
Sardines are normally a bit more fishy in smell compared to other sea fish, but baby sardines are an exception to this...
Normally available in the months of Nov Dec Jan in Mangalore and surrounding areas, but now some restaurants around Mangalore have their own fish farms where they rear these sardines thru the year...
These sardines when deep fried with our traditionall konkani masala...are really yummy to taste..
the perfect starter for a fishy food party...
Easy to make....and delicious...


Ingredients:
Baby sardines - 50
Red chilly powder - 4 tbsp (increase or decrease as per your palate)
Salt to taste
Tamarind juice - 1 tbsp
Asafoetida/Hing - 1 tsp
Rice flour - as required
Oil for deep frying

Method:
Cut and clean the sardines and drain off excess water.
Make a thick paste of red chilly powder, salt, tamarind juice and asafoetida. Add few tsps of water only if required.
Now rub in this masala to the sardines so that all the fish are coated evenly.
You could keep them aside for 30 mins to 1 hr in the fridge so that the masala is well absorbed by the fish.
But if you dont have time you can deep fry immediately.

For deep frying:
Roll the sardines in rice flour and drop in hot oil and deep fry until golden and crisp.
Serve hot.