Description
Bengali style chicken rezala is light, fragrant and utterly delicious. Serve it with rice or roti for a heartwarming meal!
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Ingredients
Ingredients:
500gramsbone-in chicken, cut into large pieces approx 2-inch
⅓cup+ 2 tablespoons curds, whisked, sub with plain greek yoghurt
½teaspoonwhite pepper powder
¾teaspoonsalt, divided
1teaspoonpoppy seeds, khus khus
1tablespoonbroken cashew nuts or 3 whole cashew nuts
1tablespoondry coconut or khopra, peeled and chopped (optional)
2tablespoonsghee
1tablespooncooking oil
2dry red chillies, whole
2bay leaves
1inchcinnamon
4cloves, whole
2green cardamoms, whole
1blade of mace
⅓cuponion paste, see Note 1
¾teaspoonginger garlic Paste
½teaspooncoriander powder
¼teaspooncornflour
¼teaspoonsugar
⅛cupmilk, 30 ml
½cupwater, 120 ml
⅛teaspoonhomemade garam masala, use ¼ teaspoon if using store bought
3green chillies, slit lengthwise
2-3drops kewra water, optional
Instructions
Marinate Chicken – Mix chicken, ¼ teaspoon salt, white pepper powder and 2 tablespoons of curds in a bowl and marinate for 20 minutes.
500 grams bone-in chicken, ½ teaspoon white pepper powder, ¾ teaspoon salt, ⅓ cup + 2 tablespoons curds
Making Poppy-Cashew-Kopra Paste – Soak poppy seeds, cashew nuts and kopra in ¼ cup of warm water for 30 minutes. Transfer the soaked ingredients to a blender along with the water they were soaked in and blend to make a smooth paste.
1 teaspoon poppy seeds, 1 tablespoon broken cashew nuts or 3 whole cashew nuts, 1 tablespoon dry coconut or khopra
Roast Chicken – Heat ½ tablespoon ghee in a kadhai over medium heat. Add chicken pieces to the pan making sure that they don’t overlap and gently fry them on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Do not brown the chicken or this will change the colour of the gravy. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
2 tablespoons ghee
Making of Gravy
Saute Spices – Heat the same kadhai with the remaining 1 & ½ tablespoons ghee & 1 tablespoon oil.
2 tablespoons ghee, 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- Add whole red chillies to the kadhai and fry for a minute or so making sure they don’t burn. Once fried, remove the chillies and set aside for later.
2 dry red chillies
- To the kadhai, add bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom & mace and fry till fragrant.
2 bay leaves, 1 inch cinnamon, 4 cloves, 2 green cardamoms, 1 blade of mace
- Saute Aromatics – Add onion paste and cook on low heat for 7-8 mins till you see oil separating from the sides. Paste will turn a pale pink. Keep stirring while cooking and do not allow the onion paste to become brown.
⅓ cup onion paste
- Add ginger-garlic paste and coriander powder and fry for about 3 minutes. Add a splash of water to prevent it from burning. Add poppy-cashew-kopra paste and fry for another 3 mins.
¾ teaspoon ginger garlic Paste, ½ teaspoon coriander powder
Mix cornflour with 1 teaspoon of water to make a slurry. Add this slurry to curds & beat thoroughly until lump free. Add it to the kadhai, and whisk constantly so that curds do not split. Cook on low flame while stirring till curds are cooked and you see oil float to the top.
¼ teaspoon cornflour
Add roasted chicken, milk, water, remaining ½ teaspoon salt and sugar. Cook covered on low heat for 18-20 mins till the chicken is tender.
¾ teaspoon salt, ⅛ cup milk, ½ cup water, ¼ teaspoon sugar
- Add fried red chillies, slit green chillies, cook for another minute. Turn off the heat, add Kewra water drops, mix and it’s done.
3 green chillies, 2-3 drops kewra water, ⅛ teaspoon homemade garam masala
