If you stroll along the streets of Madras or any place in TamilNadu(India) like Madurai , Tuticorin ,Kovilpatti , Tirunelveli etc., in the night , you won't miss to hear the word parotta and salna. Parotta with Salna is a common street food in TamilNadu and kerala. It is called the staple food of the bachelors and Truck drivers there.
Chicken with some bones and skin is the flavor riser in a salna. It is made in a jiffy way to satisfy the taste buds of hard workers (but loved by all classes). We can make a vegetarian version with potato , cauliflower, beans also but the popular one is with chicken.
The chicken salna is much equivalent to a kuruma or soup except for its less addition of chicken and some different ingredients. Look at the simple ingredients like besan flour and groundnut.... don't add cashews or poppy seeds to get the original taste. You cannot relish the salna unless otherwise you make it along with parotta.
I am narrating a parotta stall version for the famous chicken salna (chalna).
Event:
Including this Chicken salna to the event The potluck - chicken ' hosted by me.
Ingredients:
Chicken (with bone) - 200 gm
Red Onion - 1
Tomato - 2
cilantro + mint leaf - a handful
Potato - 2
curry leaf - 2 brig
Bay leaf - 2
fennel seed - 1 tsp
cinnamon (pattai)- 2 inch
ghee / vanaspathy - 3 tbsp
Red Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 3 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - to taste
To grind :
Shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
Green chilli - 4
cardamom - 4
cumin - 1 tsp
(roasted)groundnut or puffed channa dal - 2 tbsp
Ginger - 2 inch
Garlic - 3 pods
besan flour - 1 tbsp
Sour Curd - 2 tbsp
Method:
Chop the chicken pieces along with some skin and bone (approximately 150 - 200 gms).
Wash and clean the chicken . Apply Turmeric, 1 tbsp curd and keep aside.
Chop onion, Tomato separately and keep aside.
Grind ginger + garlic together.
Grind the other items given to grind and keep aside.
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok.
Add the fennel seeds, cinnamon, bay leaf and let the fennel get red.
Then add the chopped onion , curry leaf, cilantro, mint and saute till the onion becomes golden.
Then add the ginger garlic paste and saute well.
Now add the chopped tomatoes and cook till oil oozes out.
Then add the chopped chicken, chilli powder, coriander powder ,salt, potatoes and stir well.
Add a cup of water and cook the chicken for 15 minutes or till the meat is cooked completely.
Then add the ground masala with 3 cups of water.
Let it come to a boil.
Beat the 1 tbsp curd with besan flour and add 1 cup water .
Pour this mixture into the boiling salna.
Cook for another 30 minutes in medium heat.
The consistency of the salna should be thin.
switch off flame.
Sprinkle a few slit green chillies, crushed cardamom (2) and close the lid.
Chicken salna is ready!
Serving suggestions:
Serve hot with parotta , Idly, Idiyappam .
Makes 1 liter of Chicken salna.
Parotta with salna:
Click here to see How to make parotta at home.
The very thought of the hot parotta loosened and mixed with the chalna packed in a banana leaf makes me nostalgic. Oh , yeah . That's how they pack in India before the arrival of plastic sheets:) The flavor of the banana leaf and the parotta chalna can definitely lit up a lot of smile in our faces:) Hope you all fall in love with this combination forever.
Happy cooking friends!
