Chicken Salan Recipe | Chicken Salna
Easy and delicious chicken Salan which is a perfect pairing with any kind of Indian flatbreads or pulaos. Its amazing blend of flavors with a peanutty, spicy, slightly tangy, and sweet taste will make this a favorite in no time.
Ingredients
Ingredients for Chicken Marination
- 2.5 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks boneless is fine too
- Salt to taste around 1.5 to 2 teaspoons
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
Ingredients for making Salan masala paste
- ⅓ cup peanuts
- ⅙ cup sesame seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
- ⅓ cup dry coconut powder or fresh grated coconut
- 2 big tomatoes
- Enough water to grind into a paste
Other Ingredients for making Chicken Salan
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 4 cloves
- 2- inch cinnamon
- 2 red chilies broken into pieces
- 4 Cardamom elaichi
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 big onion chopped approximately 2 cups
- 1.5 tbsp gg paste
- Salt to taste
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with water
- 1 tsp grated Jaggery bellam
- ½ tsp garam masala Optional
Instructions
Preparation
- Make slight cuts into chicken pieces or poke it with a fork all around before marination to absorb spices better.
- Marinate the chicken with the marination ingredients for at least 20 to 30 mins for better results. Place the marinated chicken in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Dry roast the dry ingredients given under the masala paste except for tomatoes and water and cool them down.
- Now add these to the blender along with diced tomatoes and little water if required, make into a fine paste and keep it aside.
- Dice the onions into small pieces.
How to Make Chicken Salan
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pot and add cumin seeds, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom, curry leaves, turmeric powder and saute for a minute or two until you get a nice aroma.
- Add chopped onions with a ½ teaspoon of salt to help onions cook faster. Saute the onions until they start turning into golden color.
- Now reduce the heat and add ginger garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, red chili powder, and mix well. Cook for a minute making sure the spices are not burning.
- Next, add the marinated chicken and mix well. Cook uncovered for around 7 to 8 minutes or until all the chicken pieces turn white.
- Then add the tomato & ground spices paste to the chicken and mix well. Cook covered for 10 mins while stirring in between to avoid burning.
- When the chicken is almost ¾th way cooked, add the tamarind paste mixed with little water and the jaggery and mix well.
- Check the taste and add salt if required. Remember you already added salt in onions and chicken, so add accordingly.
- Add Garam masala if using, cook until the chicken is properly cooked and the gravy doesn't have any raw taste.
- Add chopped cilantro and turn off the heat. Serve with parotta, naan, chapati, phulka, or any kind of Indian flatbread for best combination. This goes really well with any kind of pulaos like vegetable pulao, cumin rice etc...
Notes
- Use organic young chicken and marinate for at least 30 mins for the best flavor.
- When dry roasting masala ingredients, dry roast peanuts first, take them on a plate, and then dry roast the other ingredients, add coconut to the last just before removing the pan from the heat.
- If you don't have tamarind paste, then soak small lime size tamarind in hot water, extract juice without pulp, and add it to the dish.