Rezala is an awadhi cuisine gravy that is rich and flavorful yet hasn't found a prominent place in North Indian/Mughalai cuisine section of menu cards outside India as much. It was custom made to meet requirements of the Nawabs at the time. When I was doing a little research on its history, I came across this article from times of India, where In the book “Oh! Calcutta”, hotelier Anjan Chatterjee mentions about how rezala became a part of culinary history in Bengal, "The story goes that when the Nawabs of Awadh and descendants of Tipu Sultan were exiled in Bengal, they carried their cooks along. They were responsible for the Islamic touch to the Bengali cuisine, namely the use of spices, ghee and mutton. Awadh cuisine also used essences like Kewra. The Rezala is a perfect example of this.”
I looked for its recipe and believe me, there are multiple versions of this recipe with multiple methods out there, but the key ingredients pretty much remain the same. So I experimented and came up with my take on the Rezala. With most of the ingredients easily available this was royalty on the plate, with a simple marinade that accounts to the meat falling off the bone into a rich gravy, sweet and creamy from the cashew, tart from curd with under notes of spicy punches from the green and red chillies, perfectly flavored through the warmth of the Garam masalas, saffron/kewda. Pair it with naan or pulao. Enjoy!
Let’s get started with the recipe;
1. Make the marinade paste, by grinding onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic to a smooth paste.
2. In a mixing bowl add the marinade paste along with curd and salt. Toss in the mutton and mix well. Allow to ideally marinade overnight or at least for 2 hours.
3. Heat ghee in a deep pot, add kasuri methi and the dry red chillies, followed by the marinated mutton along with the marinade paste. Stir well and add all the whole spices, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon, Shahi zeera, green cardamom and clove. Stir well, cover and cook until mutton is done.
4. Grind cashew and coconut with saffron milk, to a smooth paste. Add the paste to the cooked mutton. Stir and allow to cook for another 5 mins. Drizzle 4-5 drops of Kewra water. Check the seasoning and add salt if required. Mutton Rezala is ready! Serve with naan, rumali roti or pulao.
Ingredients
- Mutton/ chicken- 1 kg
- Garlic- 4-5vloves
- Onion- 500gms
- Green chillies- 4-5( more or less as per taste)
- Ginger- 1 inch piece
- Curd-3/4 cup
- Kasuri methi-1 tsp
- Dry red chillies-5-6( as per taste)
- Ghee- 3/4 cup
- Shahi zeera- 2tsp
- Cloves-8
- Green cardamom- 8
- Cinnamon- 2pieces
- Black cardamom- 5
- Bay leaf-2
- Crushed fennel-1/2 tsp
- Cashew nuts-1/2cup
- Grated coconut-1/2cup
- Saffron milk-a pinch saffron soaked in 1/4 cup warm milk.
- Kewra- 4-5 drops.
- Salt- to taste
Directions
- 1Make the marinade paste, by grinding onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic to a smooth paste.
- 2In a mixing bowl add the marinade paste along with curd and salt. Toss in the mutton and mix well. Allow to ideally marinade overnight or at least for 2 hours.
- 3Heat ghee in a deep pot, add kasuri methi and the dry red chillies, followed by the marinated mutton along with the marinade paste. Stir well and add all the whole spices, bay leaf, black cardamom, cinnamon, Shahi zeera, green cardamom and clove. Stir well, cover and cook until mutton is done.
- 4Grind cashew and coconut with saffron milk, to a smooth paste. Add the paste to the cooked mutton. Stir and allow to cook for another 10 mins in low heat. Drizzle 4-5 drops of Kewra water. Check the seasoning and add salt if required. Mutton Rezala is ready! Serve with naan, rumali roti or pulao.
