Chicken Salna, one of the famous and delicious curry from South India and it tastes best when paired with parotta, so it's generally known as Parotta Salna. Almost a week back, i had shared the home made parotta and this chicken salna pictures on social media and got rave appreciation from the readers for the texture of parotta and many have asked the recipe for the chicken salna, that's when i realized, chicken salna recipe is still not on my blog.
Though I make this salna regularly for our dinner, it's hard to get decent pictures without daylight, that's the only reason for not posting the recipe this long. So this weekend I was determined to make parotta & chicken salna for lunch(why not, right?), took the pictures and finally i'm here with the recipe for the yummy chicken salna.
I used to say that the chicken from the local restaurants here in North America smell too much like chicken, later only realized how else it's supposed to smell, right? In indian cooking, the other flavoring totally dominates the chicken or any meat flavor, since i'm so used to that way of eating while growing up, it's hard to eat chicken with simple flavor.I can't imagine eating the cooked meat simply with salt & pepper. Hope you get what i'm trying to convey here.
I still remember that my Aachi(paternal grandma) used to add drumstick in non veg cooking like mutton kulambu, dry fish curry & so on and used to say that drumstick make the curry so flavorful, guess whatever the flavor we like the most, we used to incorporate them in everything we cook.
Ok, now coming back to this salna recipe, by looking at the long list of ingredient, don't think it's too complicated to make, to ease the making process , i have split the ingredient list and mentioned separately under "Saute & Grind", so you may see the repeated ingredients in the list.
Like any non veg curry, this chicken salna tastes best when using meat with bone, so tried to use chicken with bone for great flavor. To get that parotta stall style salna taste, kalpaasi and mint are very important, so don't skip that. Without further delay let's check out the recipe for the delicious chicken salna.
Notes:
Parotta Chicken Salna | Restaurant Chicken Salna
Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 25 mins | Serves : 2
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Recipe Category: Curry | Recipe Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients
Chicken - 1/2 lb / 200gms
Onion -1/2(small)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1
Bay leaf -1
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Saute & grind
Onion(small) - 1/2 (thinly sliced)
Tomato(small) - 1(roughly chopped)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Star anise - small piece
Cardamom - 1
Kalpaasi - small pieces
Mint leaves - a handful
Oil -1 tsp
To grind
Coconut - 1/3 cup
Cashew - 5
Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
Chicken - 1/2 lb / 200gms
Onion -1/2(small)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Cardamom - 1
Bay leaf -1
Ginger garlic paste - 2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Curry leaves - few
Coriander leaves - few
Red chili powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Saute & grind
Onion(small) - 1/2 (thinly sliced)
Tomato(small) - 1(roughly chopped)
Cinnamon - 1/4 inch piece
Cloves - 2
Star anise - small piece
Cardamom - 1
Kalpaasi - small pieces
Mint leaves - a handful
Oil -1 tsp
To grind
Coconut - 1/3 cup
Cashew - 5
Fennel seed - 1/2 tsp
Procedure
First take all the ingredients listed under "Saute & grind" are ready. Heat a pan with 1 tsp of oil, add cinnamon,cloves,cardamom,star anise and kalpaasi and saute them in the oil for 30 secs or until it's fragrant. Next add the onions and saute till they are transparent.
Next add the 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste and saute until it's aromatic and raw smell leaves, then add the tomatoes and mint leaves and saute till the tomatoes are soft.
Next add the 1 tsp of ginger garlic paste and saute until it's aromatic and raw smell leaves, then add the tomatoes and mint leaves and saute till the tomatoes are soft.
Switch off the flame and let it cool a bit and put it in the blender/mixie jar and grind them into smooth paste and keep it aside.
Next heat the pressure cooker with 1 tbsp of oil, add the cinnamon,cloves,cardamom & bay leaf, saute them in the oil for 30 secs or until it's fragrant.Add the thinly sliced onions and curry leaves and cook till they are transparent, then add the ginger garlic paste.
Saute till the raw leaves of ginger garlic paste leaves, next add the cleaned chicken & saute till in the oil for 1 min.
Next add the grounded paste and the spices(turmeric, chili and coriander powder), give a good mix and add enough water. 
Cover the pressure cooker with lid and cook it for 3 whistles or until the chicken is soft. In the mean, grind the ingredients listed under "To grind" into fine paste and keep it ready.
Once the pressure released from the pressure cooker automatically, add the coconut paste and salt. If needed add more water and brings into boil.
Finally add few coriander leaves and let it cook until the oil floats on the top. 
Related : How to make Pichu Potta Chicken Curry
- Don't skip the mint leaves and kalpaasi, those are the major flavor to recreate the restaurant style chicken salna
- The Salna would be mildly spicy for the given measurements, add more or less as per your liking.
- Add more or less of water as per the consistency you like.
