Chicken Salna is a thin and spicy chicken curry from Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of India. It tastes delicious with flaky parotta, biryani, or steamed rice. Make it using my easy recipe (gluten-free).
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About Tamil Nadu Style Chicken Salna
Chicken Salna (Chicken Chalna) is a thin and spicy chicken curry from the state of Tamil Nadu. It is the version of plain salna where chicken is added to the recipe.
You will find many roadside shops in busy markets and restaurants along the highways selling this spicy curry with flaky parotta.
There are many versions of this curry that people make. In this post, I am sharing the easiest chicken salna recipe I learned from a chef on our visit to Madurai.
This curry can be made in a traditional pressure cooker, instant pot, or a pan over the stovetop. I am sharing all the 3 methods below, pick whichever suits you the best.
Serve this delicious chicken salna with parotta, tawa paratha, dosa, kal dosai, idli, steamed rice, or biryani.
This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. I made it in my 6-quart instant pot (or a 3-liter stovetop pressure cooker). If scaling it, use a bigger instant pot or a pressure cooker. The time of cooking will remain the same.
Here are some more South Indian curries that you may like
Ingredients
For The Salna Paste
Whole Spices – You will need whole spices like cumin seeds, fennel seeds (saunf), whole coriander seeds, Kashmiri dry red chilies, bay leaf (tejpatta), black peppercorns (kali mirch), green cardamoms (hari elaichi), and cinnamon (dalchini).
Others – You will also need peanut oil, curry leaves, green chillies, fresh coconut, white poppy seeds, fresh ginger, and garlic.
Note – If peanut oil is not available, then use any cooking oil of your choice. Gingelly oil is also a great alternative.
You can replace white poppy seeds with peanuts or cashew nuts.
Adjust the green chilies as per your spice level.
For The Curry
Chicken – Bone-in skinless chicken pieces are the perfect choice for this chicken salna recipe. Bones add a lot of flavor to the curry but if you are not a bone-in chicken person, then use boneless chicken cubes.
Spice Powders – Kashmiri red chilli powder and turmeric powder are the only two spice powders used in this curry.
Others – You will also need cooking oil, curry leaves, salt, onions, tomatoes, mint leaves, and cilantro (fresh coriander leaves).
Water used to cook the curry can be replaced with chicken stock for added flavor.
Kuzhambu Milgai Thool is a traditional South Indian spice blend and many traditional recipes have a teaspoon of this spice mix added to them. If you have access to it, then add 1 teaspoon powder along with the other spices and if not, then feel free to skip it as I did.
You can also add a little garam masala powder or curry powder to this curry for a spicy kick
How To Make Chicken Salna
Make The Salna Paste
Heat 4 tablespoon peanut oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, add
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 3-4 Kashmiri dry red chilies
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- 3-4 green cardamoms
- 1-inch piece of cinnamon stick
and fry them for 4-5 seconds.
Add
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2-3 green chilies (slit into half)
- ¼ cup grated fresh coconut
- 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds
- 1-inch piece of ginger (sliced)
- 6-8 cloves of peeled garlic
and cook until the coconut is lightly browned (2-3 minutes). Stir frequently.
Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down to room temperature.
Add the cooled mixture to a blender along with ½ cup water and make a very fine paste. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while blending.
Set the ground masala paste aside.
Make The Chicken Salna Curry (In A Traditional Pressure Cooker)
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker on medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, add 1 and ½ cups of chopped onions and 15-20 curry leaves and fry until onions turn translucent (4-5 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes.
Add 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder and ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and cook for another minute. Stir frequently while cooking.
Now add 1 lb (500 g) rinsed and drained bone-in skinless chicken (cut into 1-½ inch pieces) and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro (coriander leaves) and roughly chopped mint leaves along with the salna paste that we made earlier.
Add 2 cups of water and 1 teaspoon salt and mix well.
Tip – Add some water to the blender and take out all the paste sticking to the sides and then add this water to the cooker to avoid any wastage of the salna paste.
Close the lid of the cooker.
Cook for 1 whistle on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid.
Check for salt and add more if required. Serve the salna hot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Make the salna paste as mentioned in the recipe below. Press SAUTE Button on the instant pot and follow the steps until adding salna paste to the pot. Now add 1 cup of water and close the lid of the pot. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 6 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid. Serve.
Follow the recipe until adding salna paste to the pan. Now cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is tender. Serve.
It is said that salna recipe was influenced by the Hyderabadi salan recipe, but there is no similarity between these two curries. Salan has peanuts added to it while salna is made using poppy seeds and coconut.
Variations
Plain Salna – Plain salna is also called empty salna. To make it, skip adding chicken to the recipe and keep the rest of the recipe the same. It is called plain salna because no chicken or vegetables are added to it. I have a detailed recipe for Plain Salna here.
Vegetable Salna – Replace chicken with vegetables of your choice to make a vegetarian version of salna.
Storage Suggestions
Chicken Salna will last for 3-4 days in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.
Reheat it in a pan or microwave until nice and warm. Add in a little water while reheating if you feel the gravy has become slightly thick after refrigeration.
This curry freezes well too. Cool it completely and freeze it in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, reheat, and serve.
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Recipe Card
Tamil Nadu Style Chicken Salna Recipe
Ingredients
For The Salna Paste
- 4 tablespoons peanut oil (or any other cooking oil)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds (saunf)
- 1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 3-4 whole Kashmiri dry red chilies
- 1 whole bay leaf (tejpatta)
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns (kali mirch)
- 3-4 whole green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
- 1 inch piece of cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 2 green chilies (slit into half)
- ¼ cup grated fresh coconut (packed)
- 2 tablespoons white poppy seeds (replace with peanuts or cashew nuts if they are not available)
- 1 inch piece of ginger (sliced)
- 6-8 cloves garlic (peeled)
For The Curry
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 15-20 curry leaves
- 1 and ½ cups chopped onions
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ cup roughly chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
- ¼ cup roughly chopped mint leaves
- 1 pound bone-in skinless chicken (500 g, cut into 1-½ inch pieces, rinsed and drained)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Instructions
Make The Salna Paste
- Heat peanut oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, whole coriander seeds, Kashmiri dry red chilies, bay leaf, black peppercorns, green cardamoms, and cinnamon stick and fry them for 4-5 seconds.
- Add curry leaves, green chilies, fresh coconut, poppy seeds, ginger, and garlic, and cook until coconut is lightly browned (2-3 minutes). Stir frequently.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool down to room temperature.
- Add the cooled mixture to a blender along with ½ cup water and make a very smooth paste. Scrape the sides of the blender a few times while blending.
- Set the ground masala paste aside.
Make The Curry In A Traditional Pressure Cooker
- Heat oil in a pressure cooker on medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add onions and curry leaves and fry until onions turn translucent (4-5 minutes), stirring frequently.
- Add tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes.
- Add Kashmiri red chili powder and turmeric powder and cook for another minute.
- Now add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add cilantro and mint leaves along with the salna paste that we made earlier.
- Add 2 cups of water and salt and mix well.
- Add some water to the blender and take out all the paste sticking to the sides and then add this water to the cooker to avoid any wastage of the salna paste.
- Close the lid of the cooker.
- Cook for 1 whistle on high heat. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
- Serve hot.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!