Rich, Creamy Mughlai dish with a Touch of Everything
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Marinating Time2 hourshrs
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: bengali, Indian, Mughlai
Keyword: chicken rezala, chicken rezala restaurant style, easy chicken rezala recipe, how to cook chicken rezala recipe in bengali style, mughlai recipe, murgh rezala, rezala, step by step chicken rezala recipe
Servings: 4people
Author: Samrat Roy Chowdhuri
Cost: ₹120
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
750gchickenpreferably cut in bigger size than curry cut pieces
Whole Spices for Tempering
1inchcinnamon stick or dalchini
4pcscardamom pods
1pcbayleaf
2pcclove
For the Marinade
2tspwhole white pepperor white pepper powder
1/4tspmace (javitri)
1/4tspnutmeg (jaiphal)
100gcurdwhisked well
4pconion
1inchginger
4pcgarlic clove
2pcgreen chili
1/2tspsalt
Cashew Poppy Seed Paste in the Murgh Rezala
16pccashew nutsor one fist
2tsppoppy seed
waterto boil before preparing a paste
For the Chicken Rezala Gravy
3tspghee
3tspoil
4pcmedium sized onion
2pcgreen chilioptional, recommended
100gcurdwhisked well
2cupwater
salt to taste
2-4tspsugaradjust as per preference
2droprose wateroptional
2dropkewra wateroptional
4-6pcsaffron strandsoptional
2pcwhole 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.