It’s rich, Mughlai and creamy. It’s Bhopali Chicken Rezala. As the name suggests, this dish is native to the Madhya Pradesh capital and was first made by Nawabi chefs. What makes the Rezala so rich is the large quantities of cashew nuts and curd that go into making it.
Now we know that you don’t have access to these chefs, so we got celebrity chef Saransh Goila to show us how this dish is made. And the good news is, he has learnt it from the Nawabi chefs themselves.
Ingredients
1 kg boneless chicken cubes
300 gm white onions
20 gm ginger
20 gm garlic
12 green cardamoms
5 gm white pepper powder
20 gm desiccated coconut
50 gm cashewnuts
250 gm curd
150 gm khoya
250 gm ghee
2 drops kewra jal
2 drops mitha ittra
2 silver leaves
Salt to taste
Method
Wash and clean the chicken pieces. Blanch in a pan of boiling water, remove the scum, drain and keep aside. Extract the juice of ginger and garlic and keep aside. Separately grind onions, cashew nuts and coconut to a fine paste. In a heavy-bottomed pan place the chicken, pour enough water to cover. Add salt, green cardamoms and bring to boil, then simmer. When the chicken is half cooked, add the ground onions and the ginger-garic juice. Cook until dry. Then add ghee and the beaten curd, fry till the meat is dry. Add the nut paste and coconut and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, taking care that the masala does not brown. Then add white pepper and 1 cup of water, or enough for a thick gravy. Simmer for a while. Add kewra jal, mitha ittr and mashed khoya. Blend well. Finally add the cream. Garnish with silver leaf and serve hot.
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