Chicken Salna Recipe

Chicken Salna is a thin and spicy chicken curry from Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of India. It tastes delicious with flaky parotta or steamed rice. Here is how to make it.

5 from 3 votes

Chicken Salna is a thin and spicy chicken curry from Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of India. It tastes delicious with flaky parotta or steamed rice. Here is how to make it.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Cooling Time15

Total Time55

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings: people

Author: Neha Mathur

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 coriander seeds
3-4 Kashmiri dry red chilies
1 bay leaf (tejpatta)
1 tablespoon black peppercorns (kali mirch)
3-4 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 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
500 grams bone-in skinless chicken cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces or 250 g boneless chicken thighs (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
1 teaspoon salt or to taste

US Customary - Metric

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 to room temperature.
Add the cooled mixture to a blender with ½ cup of 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

Heat oil in a pressure cooker on medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, add onions and curry leaves and cook until onions turn translucent (4-5 minutes), stirring frequently.
Add tomatoes and cook 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, mint leaves, and the salna paste that you 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.

Video

Notes

Instant Pot Recipe

Make the salna paste as mentioned in the recipe below. Press the SAUTE button of the instant pot and follow the steps until salna paste is added 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.

This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. I made it in my 3-quart instant pot (or a 3-liter stovetop pressure cooker). If you're scaling it up, use a bigger instant pot or a pressure cooker. The cooking time will remain the same.

Nutrition