PAROTTA SALNA | VEGETABLE SALNA FOR PAROTTA

Published : | Last updated : March 6, 2025 | By
Salna is a spicy, delicious side dish served with parotta in roadside hotels of Tamil nadu (Kai endhi bhavan). It is very popular in Madurai. Empty Salna recipe is nothing but a plain, watery, tomato based spicy gravy packed with awesome flavour. But today I made vegetable salna recipe for parotta. Whenever I think about parotta, the side dish that immediately strikes my mind is Salna. This road side hotel gravy is my favorite more than vegetable kurma that is served in restaurants. Nothing can beat this combo.

Before marriage, my dad used to buy parotta salna almost twice in a month. We used to buy the parotta just for salna which tastes good for dosa, idli and chapathi as well. So we buy less parotta and ask for more salna ;). My mom makes idli /dosa additionally and we relish the salna with it. Even nowadays when I visit my mom’s place , my lovable dad never forgets to buy this for me.

Vegetable salna recipe
Last week I bought frozen parotta for the first time just to prepare this salna. When I searched for the recipe, I got so many. Finally I made my own by combining all the recipes based on the salna I tasted. Usually in vegetarian salna , you can’t find any vegetables except onions, skin of tomato and a layer of oil floating on top and may be some pieces of cauliflower. I have also shared a plain tomato salna. But I added some vegetables just to make it healthy. We loved its taste. Its taste will surely remind road side hotels salna to you.
 
Lets see how to make parotta salna at home. Give a try and let me know how it turned out for you.  Hope you will love it like me ;).  If you have salna and parotta leftover in hand, you can make delicious kothu parotta too.
Do check out my Saravana bhavan style Parotta Kurma, Parotta recipe with less oil, Kothu parotta recipe, Tomato kurma and chilli parotta.
Salna recipe

Vegetable Salna Recipe / Hotel style Veg salna for Parotta

Vegetable Salna Recipe / Hotel style Veg salna for Parotta

Vegetable Salna Recipe / Hotel style Veg salna for Parotta and biryani

 
Cuisine: Indian
Category: Side dish 
Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 Minutes
Cook time: 20 Minutes
Total time: 30 Minutes
 

INGREDIENTS

For gravy

  • Mixed Vegetables ( carrot , beans , peas and potato, cauliflower) – 1/2 cup ( I add 1 cup)
  • Ginger – Garlic paste – 1/2 tsp
  • Big onion –1 no (finely chopped)
  • Tomato – 1 no (-do-)
  • Mint leaves – a few
  • Cooking oil – 2 tbsp
  • Bay leaf – 1 (optional)
  • Black stone flower – 1 (optional)
  • Salt & water – as needed

To grind:

  • Cooking oil – 1 tbsp
  • Tomato – 2 nos
  • Red chilli powder – 1.5 tsp (use 3/4 tsp for less spice)
  • Coriander powder – 2 tsp
  • Jeera powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Garam masala powder OR Chicken masala powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
  • Cinnamon – 1 small stick
  • Cloves – 2-3 nos
  • Elachi / cardamom – 1 seed
  • Fennel seeds /soambu – 1/2 tsp
  • Grated coconut – 3 tbsp
  • Khus khus / Poppy seeds – 1/2 tsp
  • Cashew nuts – 3 nos
  • Salt & water – as needed
HOW TO MAKE VEGETABLE SALNA
  1. Wash and Cut all the vegetables of small size uniformly.
  2. In a kadai, heat oil and add the spices, ginger, garlic, onion, tomato and spice powders.
  3. Mix well till tomato mushes. Then add the grated coconut, cashews, poppy seeds. Mix well and switch off the flame. After it cools down, add little water and grind to a smooth paste.
  4. In a cooker base, add oil, bay leaf, black stone flower and Ginger garlic paste, onions, mint leaves and sauté till raw smell emanates. Now add the chopped tomato pieces and saute well till it turns mushy.
  5. Now add the ground masala paste,required salt  and all the vegetables. Add enough water and pressure cook for one whistle.
  6. When you open the cooker, you’ll see a layer of oil floating on top and you get a nice aroma. If you feel the water is more, allow it to boil for sometime by simmering the flame which makes the oil separate more. Remove and garnish with coriander leaves.
  7. Serve hot with Parotta, dosa, idli and biryani. Enjoy !

NOTE
  • If you want the salna to be watery, add little more water after opening the cooker and allow to boil.
  • U can also add coconut milk at the end instead of grinding coconut .
  • For variations, try adding all the masala while sauting instead of grinding part.
  • Adjust the amount of chilli powder according to your taste. You can even add it at the end and boil for sometime if required.

Tomato salna for parotta

 

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54 thoughts on “PAROTTA SALNA | VEGETABLE SALNA FOR PAROTTA”

  5. Prathima Rao

    Delicious salna..I wanted to give this a try at home..Never tasted it though..But now I can blindly follow your recipe..Im sure it will be a hot at home!!
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    Reply
  11. radha

    Is salna similar to salan that we get in AP? A watery concoction that goes well with biryani. At least all major eateries serve it here. And as you say there are no vegetables in it at all but yet it is a great accompanying dish.

    Reply
  16. AparnaRajeshkumar

    well i like this just because its vegetarian. :) i heared only non – veg salna :) thanks for sharing this :)

    Reply
  18. harini

    hi i made this salna for parotta. parotta came out some what ok. but salna tasted excellant.the taste, consistency ,flavour everything came out very well. thank u.

    Reply
  19. Anonymous

    Salna is a name I have never heard Chitra…but any accompaniment of parotta has to be good. ive bookamrked and I am going to try this soon.
    Shobha

    Reply
  20. Unknown

    Hi Chitra,

    I am new to ur blog. Tried out Salna yesterday with parotta for dinner. Came out really well and it was a big hit at home. Thanks for the recipe.

    Reply
  22. Unknown

    Hi chitra…

    Thanks for the recipe … I tried this and was yummy…:) I got the same taste which I have had in my childhood..:)

    Reply
  23. Unknown

    Hi chitra…

    Thanks for the recipe … I tried this and was yummy…:) I got the same taste which I have had in my childhood..:)

    Reply
  24. dewdrops

    Hi chitra,
    I have tried your veg salna atleast 6 times without knowing its your recipe. It comes out truly amazing. I have become a expert cook with this recipe. The salna has become such a hit that I make it atleast once a month. My wife has a broad smile the moment I ask if I shall make salna. Excellent way of detailing your recipes makes it easy for me. I do make adjustments in spice level, masala level to suite my daughters taste. 5***** rating for this popular tasty recipe. Keep it up.
    Keerthi

    Reply
  25. Priya

    I did this today ,it was so yummy .My husband repeatedly asked where u got this recipe from .The spice was little high for us but i adjusted using some lemon juice at the end .Wonderful salna chitra

    Reply
    2. Priya

      we had it with dosa too .i ate 3 dosas more than i have . if you are near me i would have def treated u with something …thanks once again .

      Reply
  26. Unknown

    Hi I tried ur recipe and it came out really well.it tasted as like in restaurants.thanks a lot for the recipe

    Reply
  27. Unknown

    Hi tried ur recipe today and it came out really well.it tasted as like in restaurants.thanks a lot for the recipe

    Reply
  29. kishorekp

    Wow bucket full of salna. You sure do love your salna. I love salna, but to eat, not have a bath with it. Looks pretty good, will try and post comments again

    Reply
  30. viji

    I have tried this salna so many times now, but have never left a comment. It's a big win win in my home! It tastes so delicious! Thank You!!

    Reply
    1. Chitra

      Instead of coconut, you can increase the quantity of poppy seeds to 2 tbsp, cashews to 5 nos. You can add a tsp of rice flour while grinding. It helps to give a binding. But the taste of salna will differ as there is no coconut. Still tastes good i feel :)

      Reply
  33. Priyanka Manivannan

    Wow.. it tastes so yummy.. looking for Salna recipe for a long time.. and ur recipe is so simple but PERFECT .. thank u so much

    Reply
  34. PriyaJawahar

    Tried your receipe twice…second time, made it as side dish for Biriyani for a big get together, everyone liked it…many of my friends, it went well with parota than biriyani..glad I tried it and it was sooper Yummy. Thank you.

    Reply
  37. Immaculate

    Mam,
    If possible plz post this recipe with step by step photos. When I tried for the first time it came out too good but the second time it tasted a bit sweet. I don't know the exact onion tomato ratio balance. Thanks for the recipe mam.

    Reply
  38. Chitra

    Hi, Thanks for your feedback. Sure, I will try to post step by step pics and video too. Sweetness may be due to onion.

    Reply
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