Chicken Rezala Recipe (Bengali Style)
Bengali Style Chicken Rezala is a rich, creamy Mughlai curry made with chicken, yogurt, cashews, poppy seeds, and whole spices. Make it at home using my easy recipe.
Here are more chicken recipes that you may like: Tariwala Chicken, Bihari Chicken Curry, Tomato Chicken Curry, Butter Chicken, and Chicken Vindaloo.
A Quick Look At This Chicken Rezala Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Marination Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes (plus marination)
- Serves: 4
- Cuisine: Mughlai / Bengali
- Course: Main Course
- Diet: Non-Vegetarian, Gluten-Free
- Skill Level: Intermediate
- Equipment: Heavy-Bottom Pan or Kadai, Blender, Knife, Cutting Board
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Why You’ll Love This Family Favorite Recipe!
- Rich but delicate: The yogurt and cashew base gives a creamy gravy without heaviness.
- Mild, aromatic flavors: Whole spices perfume the curry without making it spicy.
- Feels royal yet homestyle: A Mughlai classic that’s elegant but still comforting.
- Perfect for special meals: Ideal when you want to cook something a little indulgent without going over the top.
- Pairs effortlessly: Tastes best with naan, roomali roti, or fragrant basmati rice.
Table of Contents
About Chicken Rezala
Rezala is a Mughlai-style curry made using yogurt, cashew nuts, poppy seeds, and whole spices. This curry traveled to various places with the Mughals, and locals modified it to suit their tastes and the availability of ingredients.
There are several versions of this curry: Bhopali, Bengali, and Bangladeshi.
In this post, I am sharing a Bengali-Style Chicken Rezala Recipe.
This rich and creamy chicken curry from Mughlai cuisine is packed with subtle, regal flavors. It has sourness from the yogurt, sweetness from cashews, and spiciness from pepper and dry red chilies. A little kewra essence adds a subtle flavor, making this curry very unique.
Ingredients
Chicken – Use skinless bone-in chicken pieces for the best taste. I buy curry-cut chicken from Indian grocery stores, but you can also use bone-in chicken thighs or legs.
If you are not a bone-in chicken person, then you can use boneless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces.
Yogurt (Curd, Dahi) – Plain yogurt serves as the base for this chicken rezala curry. If using homemade dahi, then make sure it’s not sour.
Whole Spices – This recipe uses basic whole spices, including cloves (laung), black peppercorns (kali mirch), cinnamon (dalchini), black cardamoms (badi elaichi), dry red chilies, and green cardamoms (hari elaichi).
Spice Powders – To further flavor the curry, add everyday spice powders such as white pepper and garam masala.
Oil + Ghee – I prefer to combine both, but you can use either to make the curry.
Cashew Nuts and White Poppy Seeds – These two ingredients add that perfect creamy texture to the chicken rezala curry.
If poppy seeds are unavailable, skip using them in the recipe or replace them with melon seeds.
Others – You will also need ginger-garlic paste, green chillies, salt, onion paste, kewra essence, and saffron strands.
To make onion paste, blend a medium, peeled onion with 3-4 tablespoon of water until smooth.
Kewra essence can be replaced with kewra water or rose water.
How To Make Bengali Style Rezala Chicken
Marinate The Chicken
Step 1: Mix the following ingredients in a bowl and marinate for an hour.
- 1 kg skinless bone-in chicken (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup plain yogurt
Make Poppy Seed Paste
Step 2: Soak 10-12 cashew nuts and 2 tablespoon white poppy seeds in 2 tablespoon warm water each for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Transfer the soaked cashews and poppy seeds to a blender, along with the water they were soaked in.
Step 4: Add 4-5 green chilies to the blender and blend to make a smooth paste.
Make The Chicken Rezala Curry
Step 5: Heat 3 tablespoon ghee and 2 tablespoon oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
Step 6: When the ghee is hot, add the following ingredients to the pan and saute for 10-15 seconds.
- 3-4 cloves
- 6-8 whole black peppercorns
- 2-inch pieces of cinnamon stick
- 2 green cardamoms
- 2 black cardamoms
- 4-5 dry red chilies
Step 7: Pick marinated chicken pieces from the marinade and add them to the pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Step 8: Add the following ingredients to the pan and mix well.
- remaining marinade
- cashew nut and poppy seeds paste
- 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
Step 9: Add ½ cup of onion paste and 1 cup of water to the pan and mix well.
Step 10: Reduce the heat to low.
Step 11: Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 40-50 minutes, until the chicken is fully cooked. Stir a few times while cooking.
Step 12: Finally, add 1 tablespoon ghee and 2-3 drops of kewra essence and mix well.
Step 13: Check for salt and add more if required.
Step 14: Garnish with saffron soaked in milk and serve!
Pro Tips By Neha
Do not replace white pepper powder with black pepper powder, as this will darken the curry’s color.
Kewra essence has a very strong flavor. Do not use more than 2-3 drops; otherwise, it may make the curry bitter.
Saffron is optional, but it adds a rich, delicious aroma and flavor to the curry, so I highly recommend it.
This curry tastes even better the next day.
Chicken Rezala FAQs
If kewra essence is unavailable, then you can skip adding it. Although it gives the curry a very unique flavor, it is OK to skip adding it.
This curry can be stored in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Reheat in a pan or in the microwave until hot, then serve. Add some hot water if the curry looks thick after refrigeration.
I do not recommend freezing this curry, as the texture might change after thawing.
Serving Suggestions
Rezala chicken is traditionally served during weddings, festivals, and special Sunday meals. Serve it with rumali roti, Tandoori Roti, Tawa Paratha, Lachha Paratha, Butter Naan, or Luchi for an indulgent meal. It also tastes great with Bengali Basanti Pulao or Bengali Veg Pulao.
Other Bengali Recipes We Recommend
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Chicken Rezala Recipe (Bengali Style)
Ingredients
To Marinate The Chicken
- 2 pounds skinless bone-in chicken (1 kg, cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup plain yogurt (dahi, curd) (whisked)
To Make The Paste
- 10-12 cashew nuts (kaju)
- 2 tablespoons white poppy seeds (posta dana)
- 4-5 green chilies (stalks removed)
For The Curry
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 4 tablespoons ghee (divided)
- 3-4 cloves (laung)
- 6-8 whole black peppercorns (kali mirch)
- 2 inch piece of cinnamon stick (dalchini)
- 2 whole green cardamoms (hari elaichi)
- 2 whole black cardamoms (badi elaichi)
- 4-5 whole dry red chilies
- 1 teaspoon white pepper powder
- 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ cup onion paste
- 2-3 drops Kewra essence
- 1 pinch saffron (soaked in 1 tablespoon milk)
Instructions
Marinate The Chicken
- Mix chicken, ginger garlic paste, and yogurt in a bowl and marinate for an hour.
Make Poppy Seed Paste
- Soak cashew nuts and poppy seeds in 2 tablespoons of warm water each for 10 minutes.
- Transfer the soaked cashew nuts and poppy seeds to a blender along with the water they were soaked in.
- Add green chilies to the blender and blend to make a smooth paste.
Make Chicken Rezala Curry
- Heat 3 tablespoons of ghee and oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
- When the ghee is hot, add cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, and dry red chilies to the pan and saute for 10-15 seconds.
- Pick chicken pieces from the marinade and add them to the pan. Fry for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add the remaining marinade, cashew nut and poppy seeds paste, white pepper powder, salt, and garam masala powder to the pan and mix well.
- Add onion paste and 1 cup of water to the pan and mix well.
- Reduce the heat to low.
- Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 40-50 minutes, until the chicken is cooked well.
- Stir a few times while cooking.
- Finally, add 1 tablespoon ghee and kewra essence and mix well.
- Check for salt and add more if required.
- Garnish with saffron soaked in milk and serve!
Is there a substitute for the Kewra essence?
There is no substitute Lily however, you can skip to add it.
Used baby chicken, served with Afghani nan-e-uzbeki, and cooked with live bulgarian yoghourt.
Quite superb receipe.
Why don’t we add salt in marination?
Also what can we use instead of cashews?
You can add in marination as well. No rule here. You can use blanched almonds or melon seeds.
If I pressure cook this, how many whistles or how much time would it require on medium low heat?
One whistle on high heat. then simmer to low and cook for 10 minutes.
Thank you Neha for the recipe… I made a different regional curry for the first time and it was Good…
Thanks a lot for trying 🙂
Lovely recipe! I tried this today and added coriander and cumin powder along with Bay leaves in the end. It came out yummy!! Thanks.
What an amazing recipe..will definitely try.
Do try 🙂
Hi neha…tried this..came out really well…thank you
Thnx a lot for trying and leaving your feedback 🙂
I tried this today…it was yummmm….my son loved it…thank you neha
Thnx a lot for trying. I am glad it turned out good )