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Chicken Rezala

Tanvi Srivastava
Chicken rezala is a bengali dish of chicken cooked in a fragrant and rich yogurt, cashew & poppy seeds sauce.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 6 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian

Equipment

  • Dutch Oven or Heavy Bottom Pot with lid

Ingredients
  

Marinate The Chicken

  • 1.5 lb (750gms) chicken skinless (preferably) bone in chicken, preferably choose 1 whole chicken cut in 8 pieces or chicken things & drumsticks
  • ¾ cup plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper powder adjust to taste
  • 1 tablespoon melted ghee

For the Spice Powder

  • 2 black cardamom seeds only
  • 8 green cardamom seeds only
  • 2-3 long mace twigs
  • 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
  • ½ teaspoon white peppercorns or use white pepper powder adjust to taste

For The Cashew Paste

  • 15 raw whole cashews
  • 1 teaspoon white poppy seeds

For Making the rezala sauce

  • 5 tablespoon ghee
  • 4 dried red chillies
  • 8-10 black peppercorns
  • 1 black cardamom whole, skip if not available
  • 2 inch cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¾ cup onion paste
  • 1 tablespoon green chilli paste adjust to taste or add whole green chillies
  • 1.5 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 1.5 teaspoon sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg powder
  • 10-12 saffron strands soaked in warm milk optional
  • 1-2 drops kewra water optional

Instructions
 

Preperation

  • Marinate the Chicken- Add the cleaned, skinless chicken pieces to a large bowl and add yogurt, ginger garlic paste, white pepper powder, salt and ghee. Using your hands massage the chicken pices nicely. Cover the bowl with a plastic cling film and marinate overnight (6-8 hours) or at least 2-3 hours. Don't skip the marination step.
  • Make The Spice Powder - In a small skillet, lightly dry toast all the spices. Place in a spice grinder and grind to a powder. Set aside.
  • Grind the cashew paste - In your wet grinder, add the poppy seeds, add 3 tablespoon warm water and give it a grind. Grind on high speed to a very fine paste. Add more water if needed.
  • Prepare the onion paste - Add roughly chopped onions to a small blender jar and without adding water or using very less water, grind to a smooth paste.

MAKE CHICKEN REZALA

  • Pull out the marinated chicken out of the refrigerator 1-1.5 hours before beginning to cook.
  • In a heavy bottom pot or a dutch oven (4 qt or larger), add the ghee and warm it up on low heat.
  • Temper the ghee with all the whole spices and saute for 8-10 seconds on low heat taking care that the spices do not burn and their flavor starts releasing.
  • Add the onion paste next and fry on low medium heat saute the onion paste till its rawness is gone. You will notice that the color will be very light brown and the oil is separating. Dont let the onions brown too much else it will take away the color of sauce.
  • Add cumin seeds and the ginger garlic and chilli paste next and saute for a minute till you smell a nice aroma.
  • Reduce the heat to low, add 2-3 tablespoons of water and add the marinated chicken pieces. Sprinkle the spice powder that we made earlier.
  • Gently stir the chicken to mix with onion and coat in spices. Let the stove be on low while you stir the chicken. This will make sure that the yogurt wont curdle. Stir for couple of minutes so that the yogurt starts warming up. 
  • Now, add the cashew-poppy seeds paste we made along with salt & sugar. Stir to combine everything. You may add some green chilies at this point. Cover the pot and let cook on low medium heat for 10 minutes. You wil need to stir around a few times in between. Once you see that the sauce has started gentling bubbling, reduce the heat to low and let cook covered for another 15-20 minutes.
  • Around 25 minutes, open and check. You will see a layer of fat on the sides and a thin sauce. Make sure that the chicken pieces are cooked through but not falling apart. Taste to check and adjust the salt if needed. Add the saffron, nutmeg powder & kewra (if using). Mix and let the simmer for 2-3 more minutes. Switch off the stove and let rest for 15-20 minutes before serving. 
  • Serve with rotis. parathas or rice, as you wish.

Notes

  1. Choose quality chicken pieces, preferably with bones, as they enhance the flavor during cooking. I prefer to slow cook the chicken, however you can pressure cook the chicken beforehand and then finish it with the sauce.
  2. Marination does wonders to the tenderness and flavor of chicken.
  3. You can replace the cashews with almonds if you wish. Soak the almonds and peel the skin nefore using.
  4. If you not every finicky about color, or dont want to purchase white pepper, use black pepper in the recipe. The curry will be slightly darker in color.
  5. White pepper has a sharp taste compared to the black ones, be sure touse it sparingly in the beginning. Taste the sauce as you add it so as to not land up with a very spicy sauce. The rezala has a mild sweetish taste.
  6. Use ghee for cooking, it gives an authentic taste and aroma.
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