Plain Salna for Parotta - Empty Salna Recipe - Side Dishes For Parotta and Chapathi

Plain salna recipe with step by step pictures and full video. Our cuisine has a numerous variety of gravy dishes in both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes. With so many kinds of gravy recipes there, many of our favourite side dishes for parotta are this plain salna. It is a joy for many of us to mix the parotta with a generous amount of salna and eat it along with onion raita. Although salna dishes have been in our cuisine for many years, they still have some important things you have to remember before proceeding. We will see a few basic tips for preparing a perfect hotel style salna.

1. Always use coconut, cashew nuts and other thickening ingredients like peanuts or roasted chana dal in minimal quantities. Do not increase any one of these ingredients, then your salna will be thick.

2. If the salna becomes too thick during cooking, add warm water and continue to cook for another five to seven minutes. If the salna is not thick enough, close it with the lid and cook until you get the desired consistency.

3. Salna is traditionally cooked in a clay pot,but it tastes equally good when cooked in a heavy bottomed kadai or in a pressure cooker. To get the best result, you should cook on medium heat.

4. If you want the salna to be spicy, increase the red chilly powder and green chillies to suit your taste.

5. To ensure that salna gets cooked completely, the oil should float on the top of the gravy after it is cooled.

6. I prefer the good amount of oil for salna dishes because reducing oil will not be good. The important step in the salna dishes is sautéing the onion tomato mixture until the moisture gets evaporated and you can see oil separating on the sides of the gravy.

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Here is the video link for Plain Salna

Plain Salna Recipe Details

Prep time : 15 minutes
Cook time : 35 minutes
Serves : 4
Category : gravy/side dish
Author : Muthulakshmi Madhavakrishnan

Ingredients

2 medium onion
3 tomato
3 green chilly
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1.5 tsp red chilli powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp garamasala powder
10 mint leaves
10 curry leaves
2 tbsp coriander leaves
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp fennel
1 star aniseed
few black stone flower (kalpasi)
3 cloves
4 to 6 tbsp oil
Salt to taste

For masala paste

1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp fennel
1 tsp poppy seeds
2 piece cinnamon
3 cardamom
6 to 8 peanuts
6 whole cashew nuts
4 tbsp grated coconut

Cooking Directions

Heat a kadai and add black pepper, cumin and fennel seeds. Roast for a few seconds and add cinnamon, cardamom and poppy seeds. Then add peanuts and cashew nuts. When you get a nice aroma add the coconut and turn off the heat. Roast well in the kadai heat for a few seconds and transfer it to a plate.

Allow the ingredients to cool down and add it to a mixer jar. Add 2 to 3 tbsp water and grind it to a smooth paste.

Heat oil in a clay pot or in a heavy bottomed kadai and add the spices one by one (bay leaf, kalpasi, star aniseed, fennel seeds and cloves). Let them sizzle.

Add the chopped onions and green chillies. Keep sauteing until it gets soft. Do not keep it on high flame because it will get burnt. Add curry leaves and ginger garlic paste. Stir and saute until the raw smell of the ginger garlic goes off.

Add the tomatoes and saute well for a few minutes on medium heat. Add mint leaves and continue cooking, stirring often and allow the tomatoes to turn soft. Now add the turmeric powder, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Fry for a few minutes until the raw flavour goes well.

Then add 1/2 cup water and add required salt for the gravy. Close and cook for 5 minutes.

Now add the ground coconut masala paste and add 1 cup water.

Add garamasala powder and mix well. Close it with a lid and allow the gravy to boil on low heat for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, when the oil specks on the top of the salna turn off the heat. Add chopped coriander leaves. Do not hurry up to serve. Allow the salna to rest in the kadai heat for another 20 minutes and then transfer it to the serving dish.

Delicious plain salna is ready to serve. Enjoy with parotta, chapathi or dosa.

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