Empty Salna

I've heard the word "salna[aka kurma]" only a couple of years back, which is served with parottas in many parts of Tamilnadu. In our region, we make "kurma" only! :)

In this salna no veggie is added and thats why this is called Empty salna. Special thanks to Asiya akka for sharing this recipe.

Ingredients
Onion -1
Green Chilly -1
Tomato -2
Few Mint leaves,curry leaves and Cilantro
Grated Coconut - 5teaspoons
Cashew- 5
Cloves - 2
Cinnamon- 2" piece
Elaichi-2
Ginger-garlic paste -1 teaspoon
Chilli Powder-1 1/2teaspoon
Coriander powder-1teaspoon
Cumin powder-1/2teaspoon
Fennel powder-1/2teaspoon
Turmeric powder-1/8teaspoon
Salt
Oil

Method
Powder the cinnamon stick,cloves & elaichi.
Chop the onion,g.chilly,tomatoes and mint.
Grind the coconut and cashew with little water to a fine paste.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the onions,green chilly & curry leaves till onion changes in colour. Then add the cinnamon-clove-elaichi powder and G-g paste and fry for a minute. Add in the tomato pieces and mint.
Cook on low heat till the tomatoes become mussy. Now add the chilli-coriander-cumin-fennel and turmeric powders and fry till the oil oozes out. Then add salt and a cup of water, bring it to nice boil.

Add the coconut-cashew paste, add enough water(~11/2cups to 2 cups), cook on low heat for 10-15 minutes. By then the salna will be cooked nicely and the oil will be floating on top.
Garnish with cilantro and put off the flame. Aromatic and yummy empty salna is ready to serve. Its a perfect match for layer parathas-chappathi and poori. We had it with Naan,which will be coming soon.

Note
Cover the pan and cook through out the entire process.
Onions-tomatoes should be finely chopped so that,you won't find any pieces in the salna.
Chop the paratha/chapathi into small pieces, soak them in the salna, thats the best method of eating this dish! :)
You can see the original recipe here.