RECIPE - PRATA & CHICKEN SALNA

salna (or chalna) is a famous side dish in madurai, usually served with prata or paratha. it's also famous in tenkasi.
whenever we stay in tenkasi, most of the time our breakfast is paratha & chicken or mutton salna. women there usually make paratha at home and they will prepare salna also. sometimes they also make idyiappam (puttu mayam) or thosai & serve with salna.
today i'll give you the recipe for prata & chicken salna.

PRATA
Ingredients
maida or plain flour (you may also use wheat or atta flour) - 4 cups
yogurt - 1/2 cup
salt - 1 tsp
baking soda - 1/4 tsp
egg (optional) - 1
cooking oil - 1/2 cup
warm water
Butter - small amt

Method
add salt, baking soda, oil, yogurt and egg to maida and mix them well. add warm water to the mix and keep stirring it to the consistency of chappati dough. cover the dough with damp cloth and let it sit for one hour.
create medim size balls from the dough. with 4 cups of flour you should be able to create at least 7 balls for a medium size prata.
on a large flat surface like your kitchen countertop, roll the ball as thin as possible. don't worry about the shape for now. start from the longest end. make a fold of about half inch toward the inner side. next, fold it again so that first fold doesn't goes inside but stays outside, in the shape of "W". continue to fold on the fashion to create "zipzag" fashion in terms of folding.
roll the zipzag pattern to come to the round shape as show above. set the pan in stove to medium heat. roll the dough in circle shape. apply some butter and put in the pan.
cook the prata on each side for about a minute until in reach light brownish color. take the cooked prata and place it on a plain surface. Smash the prata sideways to make it soft & fluffy.
serve hot with salna or other gravy.

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CHICKEN SALNA
Ingredients

Marinade:
chicken-1lb
salt-required
chilli powder- 3/4 tsp
turmeric powder
lemon juice

Dry Roast & Grind:
aniseed (perunjeeragam) - 1tsp
cumin seeds - 1 tsp
peppercorns - 3/4 tsp
red chillies - 4

Masala:
roughly chop everything and roast in 2 tsp oil.
Onion - 1
garlic - 5 pods
ginger - 1/2"
tomato - 1
coconut - 1/4 to 1/2 cup

Method
Heat oil in a kadai (or frying pan) and fry coconut until color changes. set aside. roast the rest of the ingredients under masala until soft. grind this along with the coconut until smooth. Heat oil in pot or deep saucepan and fry chicken for 2- 3 mins. Then add all the masalas. Add required salt. Mix well and leave it to cook. once chicken is cooked add corriander leaves.
Chicken salna is ready.
you may also serve idyiappam (puttu mayam) or thosai with salna.