About The Author
Hello! From Chuchura (in Hooghly District) and a foodie, I created this blog with a mission to preserve the food of the land; with a message to encourage and promote clean and real food. I hope you enjoy and gain out of this blog, happy reading!
Looking forward to read and hear your feedback.
Chicken Rezala is a rich Mughlai dish that has a bit of everything in it.
You can taste the sourness of the curd, the sweetness of the sugar and the spicy warmth from the pepper.
The gravy is very creamy and rich because it contains cashew nuts and poppy seeds.
Chicken Rezala is cooked mostly in ghee or clarified butter – making this dish as one of the best recipes for a Sunday lunch.
Regional Variants of Chicken Rezala
A murgh rezala has three regional variants as below.
- Bengali Rezala – Most widely found across India and from the West Bengal region of India, this is white in color. In this blog, we have covered this easy chicken rezala recipe
- Bhopali Chicken Rezala – From Bhopal, this chicken rezala stands out because of the green tinge in the gravy
- Bangladeshi Chicken Rezala – This is another Bengali variant, the difference being in the use of turmeric powder which renders a yellow color to the dish
Rezala is traditionally made with goat meat. In this recipe, we consider chicken for reason
Getting Your Restaurant Style Chicken Rezala Right
In restaurants, chicken rezala is still an undermined dish (meaning it has not reached the cult status that tandoors and butter masala have).
However, if you have tasted it once, you would prefer to order it again.
In order to cook a good chicken rezala in restaurant style, you must consider the following –
Cut of the Chicken in Chicken Rezala Restaurant Style
Avoid curry cut chicken pieces. Prefer larger size cuts, preferably biryani cuts.
Of course when I say biryani cut I am referring to the size and portion of chicken available across India, and not not at Hyderabad (where chicken portion in each plate is humongous).
The Pastes
There are two pastes you will need to prepare for your dish.
Cashew & Poppy Seed Paste
This is what gives the gravy its creamy texture and flavor.
To make an easy chicken rezala, the recipe must contain a fine blend of cashew nuts and poppy seeds.
Boil the cashew nuts and poppy seeds in ample water. Drain out the water, and allow to cool.
Note
Remember that cooking cashew and poppy seed paste in the wok directly is time consuming and requires a lot of patience. There is a higher probability that some parts remain raw and hence we boil both before making a paste.
Once it is at room temperature, make a fine paste. Ensure that there are no lumps, if needed drop in a teaspoon or two of water.
Onion Paste for the Murgh Rezala
For a small batch cooking, you can directly make a paste.
Ensure that there are no lumps.
If you want to make the dish fail proof, drop onions in boiling water for 10 minutes and allow it to cook.
Note
Boiling onions does two things – it prevents the experience of raw onion flavor while eating. Secondly, it reduces the risk of your onions turning brown. A properly cooked (boiled) onion need not require extensive sautéing.
Allow it to return to room temperature and then make a fine paste.
The Right Choice of Pepper for Your Chicken Rezala
Since you are cooking a white gravy, it is important to choose the white pepper.
Avoid the black pepper, because it may change the color of your gravy. Of course, if you do not have white pepper in your pantry, go ahead with black pepper.
Secondly, always prefer to ground your spices fresh.
Get whole white pepper and pound it fresh – this gives the best flavors to the easy chicken rezala recipe.
How to Make Chicken Rezala at Home – The Optional Elements
A lot of times you are overwhelmed with cooking a Mughlai dish because it uses a lot of essence and stuff that is not regularly available in a Bengali kitchen.
For this easy chicken rezala recipe, the following are optional and must not prevent you from not cooking this royal Mughlai dish.
Essence Is Optional
Rose water and kewra water isn’t mandatory.
While I have listed them in my recipe, several times I did not have it handy and yet the flavors were finger-licking good.
Remember, there are many who do not like these essence in their food.
Sugar is Commonly Used in the Bengali Chicken Rezala Recipe
In Bengal, sugar is one of the mandatory ingredients used in the chicken rezala. This gives a sweet note to the dish which is preferred by the people in this part of the world.
Many restaurants serving this white gravy dish outside Bengal do not add sugar.
It is up to you – as a Bengali, I prefer adding sugar in my chicken rezala recipe.
Saffron
Not mandatory at all, saffron is expensive and looks great as garnish.
If you have saffron in your pantry, sprinkle on top and serve to your guests.
Do not purchase it just for the sake of this dish. Of course, if you are a Kolkata Biryani fanatic, keeping a small container always helps.
Let’s jump into how to make chicken rezala recipe step by step in the Bengali way.
Note
The equipment & ingredient quantity provided in this recipe is to assist you in cooking this dish. Feel free to experiment with your ingredients. Remember that we all have different set, size & shape of kitchen tools in our pantry.
Equipment
- 1 Wok (kadai) and spatula
- 1 Saucepan (you may use the another or same kadai) optional
- 1 Mixer Grinder
- 1 Knife and chopping board
- Preparation and serving bowls and spoons
Ingredients
- 750 g chicken preferably cut in bigger size than curry cut pieces
Whole Spices for Tempering
- 1 inch cinnamon stick or dalchini
- 4 pcs cardamom pods
- 1 pc bayleaf
- 2 pc clove
For the Marinade
- 2 tsp whole white pepper or white pepper powder
- 1/4 tsp mace (javitri)
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg (jaiphal)
- 100 g curd whisked well
- 4 pc onion
- 1 inch ginger
- 4 pc garlic clove
- 2 pc green chili
- 1/2 tsp salt
Cashew Poppy Seed Paste in the Murgh Rezala
- 16 pc cashew nuts or one fist
- 2 tsp poppy seed
- water to boil before preparing a paste
For the Chicken Rezala Gravy
- 3 tsp ghee
- 3 tsp oil
- 4 pc medium sized onion
- 2 pc green chili optional, recommended
- 100 g curd whisked well
- 2 cup water
- salt to taste
- 2-4 tsp sugar adjust as per preference
- 2 drop rose water optional
- 2 drop kewra water optional
- 4-6 pc saffron strands optional
- 2 pc whole red chili (dried)
Instructions
Prepare a Marinate and Marinate the Chicken for Restaurant style Chicken Rezala (15 minutes)
- Peel and chop the onions roughly. Using a mixer grinder, prepare a fine paste. Ensure that there are no identifiable onion chunks. Pour over the chicken
- Whisk the curd (check Notes) to ensure that there are no lumps. Pour over the chicken
- Peel and chop the ginger, garlic and green chili, prepare a paste and add to the chicken
- In a mixer grinder, add all the dry ingredients mentioned under "For the Marinade" and prepare a fine powder. Add over the chicken
- Using a spoon or preferably your hand, rub in the spice mix to the chicken pieces. Ensure that the marinate covers all the pieces
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably over night
Preparation for the Easy Chicken Rezala (15 minutes)
- After the marination/resting time, take out the chicken from the refrigerator and set aside to thaw
- Peel and chop the onions, prepare a paste and keep aside
- In a wok/kadai, boil the poppy seeds and cashew nuts for 3-4 minutes and make a fine paste using a mixer-grinder (See Notes). Set aside
- Finely chop the green chilies and keep aside
Cooking the Chicken Rezala or Murgh Rezala (40 minutes)
- In a wok or kadai, add ghee and oil
- Once the oil starts to smoke, bring the flame to low and add in all the spices mentioned under "Whole Spices for Tempering" and saute on medium flame for 15-20 seconds
- Now turn the flame to medium and add in the onion paste and chopped green chilis
- Cook till the raw smell of the onion goes away and the onion starts gaining a brownish color. Remember that the goal is a white gravy and you should not let the onions turn brown. Move to the next step when you find that the onion starting to change its color
- Add well whisked curd to this and cook covered with occassional stirring till the curd has uniformly blended with the other ingredients
- To this add the cashew nuts and poppy seeds paste you prepared earlier
- Cook covered for few minutes on a low to medium flame
- Add in the marinaded chicken and mix in the gravy. Cook on a high heat for a couple of minutes
- Lower the flame to medium and add in the water. Bring this to a boil
- Add salt and sugar and cook covered till the chicken is done. You will know this once the oil starts floating on top. Occassionally uncover, give it a stir to avoid the gravy from sticking to the bottom of the wok and burning
- Check for seasonings, and adjust (See Notes)
- Switch off the flame
- Optional step – add kewra water, rose water and a pinch of saffron strands. It is fine if you do not have any, it won't impact the taste
- Pour this gravy in an appropriate sized bowl and keep covered
Tempering the Gravy with Dried Red Chilies
- In saucepan, add oil and heat
- Add in the dried red chilies
- Cook till the dried red chilies get are fried porperly and turn dark brown
- Pour in the gravy to this, give it a nice stir and cook for a minute
- Serve this easy to cook, restaurant style chicken rezala with paratha, roomali roti, or rice and enjoy
Notes
- The most important aspect of a chicken rezala recipe lies in getting the sourness and the flavors from cashews and poppy seeds correct. A mismatch can make your gravy more sour
- If you do not have cashews, you can replace with char magaz or melon seeds. Ensure that the quantity is doubled
- Use white pepper for a white gravy. If you use black pepper, you will run the risk of changing the color of the gravy
- Pepper is one of the most important aspects of the gravy. You should not replace pepper with chilies. Doing so will not only change the flavor of the gravy entirely, you may not like the end result too
- Unless you want to put this on Instagram or any social media, you may also use black pepper (or if white pepper powder is not readily available in the pantry)
- Whisk the curd well. Normally, you use a spoon, however, you can also give it a nice 5-second whisk in your mixer grinder. Using a mixer grinder produces the best results. You may use a hand blender too
- Poppy seed and cashew nut paste – use a spoonful or two water for fine paste. Ensure that the poppy seed and cashew nut has reached the room temperature before you proceed to blend it into a paste. Otherwise it may cause an accident. Be careful here
- Sugar is mandatory if you are cooking a Bengali style chicken rezala. Adjust to your likings
- After adding the curd to the onion paste in the wok, stir briskly to avoid curdling. Ensure that the heat is low. You may even take the wok off the heat, add the curd, stir briskly for a minute and then put it back on the stove.
Typical serious Bengali narrator with a detailed recipe. Keep up the good work!
Awesome
I made the dish following the recipe and it came out really yummy . Loved the taste . Thanks samrat for the detailed recipe .
Glad you liked it, Alka. Do try out few of the other recipes. Happy gorging!