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.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
To Marinate The Chicken
- 1 kilogram skinless bone-in chicken cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces, or 500 g boneless chicken thighs (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ 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, optional
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 cashews and poppy seeds to a blender along with the soaking water. Add 4-5 green chilies to the blender and blend until smooth.
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.
- Lift the chicken pieces out of the marinade and add them to the pan. Save the leftover marinade. Fry for 4–5 minutes, stirring often.
- 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 30-35 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Stir a few times while cooking. Low heat keeps the yogurt gravy silky rather than grainy. The chicken is done when it reaches 165°F at the thickest part near the bone.
- 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 (if using) and serve!
Video
Notes
Two small things can undo this curry, and I learned to be careful with both. First, kewra is powerful: 2–3 drops perfume the pot, but any more and it turns bitter and soapy. I now add it drop by drop, right at the end. Second, don't reach for black pepper when you run out of white. It tastes fine, but it turns that beautiful ivory gravy a dull grey.
Make it a day ahead. The spices settle overnight, and rezala tastes better on day two.
Match the thickness to what you're serving. Thicker gravy clings to paratha and luchi, and a looser gravy suits rice.
Salt the marinade if you like. Readers often ask about this, and there's no rule. Just reduce the salt in step 6 by the same amount.
Saffron is optional, but it adds a rich, delicious aroma and flavor to the chicken rezala curry, so I highly recommend it. If using it, then soak a pinch of strands in 1 tablespoon of warm milk when you start making the curry.
Nutrition
Calories: 360kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 176mg | Sodium: 1465mg | Potassium: 489mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 98IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 106mg | Iron: 2mg
