Chaalna / Salna

Chaalna with parotta, a drool-worthy combination :). In Madurai there are lots of road-side restaurants and they were in news very recently for the wrong cause too. Please do forget about it and enjoy this post. Most road-side restaurants in Madurai prepare parotta and chaalna in the evening. If you cross those stalls the smell of this chaalna will be very inviting. When I get a chance to eat something from hotel, I used to ask my grandpa for this. He orders it from the nearby hotel and ofcourse without the knowledge of my parents. My dad would have been very angry with me if he knew that I eat from road-side stalls :D.  I make this combo at home now-a-days,  but very rarely. Rajender is not a fan of such heavy dishes. He loves simple and healthy ones and no need to say I am a person with an opposite taste. It is not a very unhealthy dish altogether. But it is better to have it rarely because of the heavy fat and carb content of parotta. In this post I will concentrate on chaalna recipe. Hope you will love it. This chaalna tastes excellent with chappathi too.

Ingredients :

Chicken- 1/2 kg

Onion- 2 nos or 10 shallots

Green chilly- 4 nos

Ginger- an inch piece

Garlic- 5 pods

Coconut meat- 2 big pieces

Fennel seeds- 1 tspn (very important ingredient)

Pepper corns- 1 tspn

Coriander powder- 2 tbspns

Chilli powder- 2 tspns (adjust accordig to your taste)

Cinnamon- an inch piece

Cardamom- 3 nos

Cloves- 4 nos

Star anise- 1 no

Mace- 1 no

Oil- 5 tbspns

Salt to taste.

Method :

Mince onions. Seperate the minced onions into two equal parts and keep aside. Make thin slices of coconut meat. Slit the green chillies. Mince garlic and ginger. Now heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan. Add onions, ginger, garlic, fennel seeds, pepper corns and green chilli pieces. Saute well for two minutes. Now add the coconut slices to the sauteed mixture. Saute everything well for another five minutes on low flame. Switch off the stove and cool the sauteed ingredients. Now grind everything in a food processor. Cut and clean the chicken and keep aside. Add oil in a pan and when the oil is hot enough add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise and mace. When they emit a nice aroma add the remaining onions and saute well until they turn translucent. Now add the chicken pieces and saute them in oil until the flesh becomes whitish in colour.  When the flesh of chicken becomes white add enough salt, coriander and chilli powder and mix everything well. Saute for a minute and then add the ground masala. Mix everything well and add enough water. Allow the mixture to boil and once it boils, simmer for further 15 minutes or until the chicken is soft enough. Serve with hot, hot parotta or lacha parathas.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Never forget fennel seeds. Thats the ingredient which gives chaalna its nice flavour. Coconut is a must in this recipe. Do not discard the chicken fat completely. Add some fat pieces for a nice flavour and taste. The final preparation should not be too thick. It should be bit on the thinner side. When you pour it on the parotta it should soak the entire parotta and when you have them........hmmmmm...it will be simply yummy!!! I am drooling now :P. Happy cooking !!!

Thank you Prani :) I forgot the main ingredient chicken hehe...thats very kind of you to point it out.