Mutton Rezala -- well almost

Mutton Rezala

The typical Bengali style rezala is a subtly spiced, fragrant with whole spices and kewra, yogurt-based stew with chunks of meat. It owes its origin to Mughlai cuisine. This is my recipe of Mutton Rezala, which is not exactly like the muslim restaurants in Kolkata but close.

Chicken Rezala Recipe

I had never thought I would make a Mutton Rezala at home. Heck, I didn't even know how to make a Rezala. All I knew was that Mutton Rezala was a very fragrant stew kind of mutton dish that could be found at Sabir's in Kolkata. It was heavenly but with years the taste had ebbed its sharpness and I couldn't recall how exactly it tasted. All I could remember is the anticipation and the fragrance when Baba would get Biryani or Paratha-Rezala from Sabir's on some days back home. But then I had the same excitement when he got chicken roll from Nizam's or pastries from Flury's or Khasta Kachuri from neighborhood Mahaprabhu.

So you see the tastes weren't distinct in my memory anymore and I had learned to live with the fact that Rezala was that one more unattainable thing from the past. It was a dish fit for the Nawab's who led a very luxurious and sedate life style and had no place in the new age Western World.

I still thought Mutton Rezala was not something you made at Home. Hey, even Sabir's chef thought it was impossible and he would know.
"According to Ahmed the secret of the taste lies in the preparation. Anis Ahmed, another partner, however, disclosed the recipe. The ingredients are simple. Made out of mutton breast, the spices include dahi, ghee, poppy seeds (posto), zafran, and jaitri. the proportionate mixing of the spices gives it the right taste. “this is where most people go wrong,” said Ahmed. even if you are closely correct in the proportion you will never get the right taste at home. the trick, he said, is in the fuel. “you can never get the taste unless you cook it in charcoal fire,” said Ahmed

Read more: A taste of Rezala at Sabir’s - Calcutta Times - City - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1885223942.cms#ixzz0vqR8u3Z9
"

And then I saw Kalyan making a Chicken rezala at home. That was the thing that set me on track about this whole Rezala thing. And then I see Mr.Ghosh our UshnishDa making not only Mutton but Paneer and Aloo Rezala at his very own home.

Hmmm...so I guess Rezala can be made at home after all. If all these male of the species have done it successfully, the female power could do it better I thought.

Did I say better ? Ok, kidding, I did not mean better. Why would I say better ? I mean how can it be better than Anis Ahmed's slow cooked rezala on "charcoal fire".

We are the liberated, powerful, modern female. We do not use charcoal fuel. We know better. Ok what is this with better, dang, not better, best. We know best and Rezala might not be one of them. Who cares ?

But my gas cooked, pressure cookered, first attempt Mutton Rezala was really gorgeous. It was fragrant, the mutton tender and soaked with all those spices, the gravy light but spicy and everything that I could possibly ask for in a Rezala. The flavor of this dish comes from the whole spices, the cardamom, the javetri and then the magical drops of Kewra water. Everyone who had it loved it. I am not sure if they recognized it as a Rezala but they loved it none the less.

Get this recipe in my Book coming out soon. Check this blog for further updates. 

Since I was making this for a small lunch gathering, I made it richer and spicier. For an everyday Home Version you can choose to go light.
I have mostly followed this recipe but have also taken pointers from this and this. I have made Mutton Rezala but you can easily substitute Mutton with Chicken or even make a Vegetarian Rezala.


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Mutton Rezala

Serving size : This serves about 10-12 adults when served as a part of a complete meal
Time Taken: Prep :15 mins; Marination:8-12 hrs; Cooking Time: 30-40 mins
Level of Difficulty: Medium

What You Need

Mutton/Goat Meat ~ 5lb

Onion ~ 4-5 cups of chopped red onion (4-5 medium sized onion)
Garlic ~ 12 cloves
Ginger ~ 2" piece

Yogurt 1.5 cup for marinade + 2 cups for later

Grind to a Dry Spice powder

Cardamom ~ 4 big black + 10 green
Mace/Javetri ~ 1 tbsp
Clove ~ 10
Pepper Powder ~ 1 tbsp
Nutmeg/jaiphal - a pinch of nutmeg powder


For Gravy

Onion ~ 1/2 of a large thinly sliced (Optional)

Ginger Paste ~ 2 tsp (optional)

Garlic Paste ~ 2 tsp (optional)

Cashew ~ 4 tbsp soaked and then made a paste

Kewra Water ~ 1 tsp (must for the fragrance)
Meetha Attar -- a few drops adds to the beautiful fragrance (I usually never have this but a reader suggested so adding here)
Milk ~ 4 Tbsp
Saffron ~ few strands

Salt ~ to taste
Oil ~ Cooking oil preferably Canola or Ghee
Ghee ~ 1 tbsp

Whole Spices for tempering

Bay Leaf ~ 5
Whole Red Chili ~ 15 -- Do not crack the red chili, use whole, this brings you the smell of the spice without excess heat. Depending on your spice level decrease this quantity
Black Peppercorn ~ 3 tsp whole is better or use 1 tbsp of pepper powder
Cardamom ~ 2 Black + 5 green
Clove ~ 10
Cinnamon Stick ~ 1 stick

How I Did It

Step 1

Grind to a dry powder the spices listed under "Grind to Dry Powder"

Step 2

Heat Oil

Lightly fry the 5 cup of onion + 12 clove of garlic + 2" piece of ginger until onion is soft and pink
Cool and make a paste.
Add to this 1 cup of yogurt and blend well

Traditional Route: Don't fry onion, garlic, ginger, just make a paste of above. However my raw onion paste sometimes gets bitter so I prefer this.

Step 3

In a big large mouthed bowl (or use an aluminum tray) add the washed and cleaned mutton pieces.
Add the paste + yogurt from Step 2
Add the dry spice powder from Step 1
Add salt to taste
Mix well
Let it rest for 2-3 hours, overnight is better.

Step 4

Heat Oil + 1 tbsp Ghee in a heavy bottomed large pan

Temper the Oil with all spices listed under Whole Spice. Add about 1/2 tsp of sugar.

When the spices sizzle add 1/2 of an onion sliced thin and fry till onion starts to brown
Add 2 tsp of Ginger Paste + 2 tsp of Garlic Paste and fry for couple of minutes
Traditional route: Skip this step

Remove the meat pieces from the marinade, shaking off any excess liquid and add to the pan. Saute the meat pieces till the raw pink coloring is gone. A lot of water will be released at this point and it will smell heavenly.

In a bowl beat about 2-3 cups of yogurt + cashew paste. I also add a little sugar to the yogurt. If your yogurt is very thick, add 1/2 Cup of water to thin it out.
Lower the heat and add this along with the remaining marinade to the pan. Mix everything nicely. Note: Use 3 cups yogurt for a lighter gravy, 2 cups for not too soupy one.

Add salt to taste.

Transfer everything to a Pressure Cooker.If you think that the liquid is not enough, add some water.Add a tsp of Kewra Water. The Kewra Water is important, DO NOT skip it, you can use Rose Water or a little Meetha Attar if you don't have Kewra Water.

Now close the lid of the pressure cooker.  Keep heat at medium and cook till Mutton is tender. Do not over cook. Since I had marinated the meat for close to 18 hrs, mine was done in 10 minutes after full pressure build up.
Note: If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can cook the meat in the pan but it will take about 45-60 minutes. You will also need to stir in between and add water if necessary to avoid the meat from sticking to the bottom.

In a small bowl heat 3-4 Tbsp of milk. Add a few strands of saffron to the warm milk and mix. Once the meat is done and you can open the lid of the cooker add the milk+saffron and close the lid again.

Let it sit for 30 minutes and then serve with Rice, Biryani or Naan.



Similar Recipes:

Hyderabadi Maraag

Patha'r Mangshor Jhol

Mutton Stew for Kids



Trivia: The Mughal influence in Bengali Cuisine was reinforced in the Raj era, when Kolkata became the place of refuge for many prominent exiled Nawabs, especially the family of Tipu Sultan from Mysore and Wajid Ali Shah, the ousted Nawab of Awadh. The exiles brought with them hundreds of cooks and masalchis (spice mixers). These highly accomplished cooks came with the knowledge of a very wide range of spices (most notably jafran saffron and mace), the extensive use of ghee as a method of cooking, and special ways of marinating meats.
Specialties include chap (ribs slow cooked on a tawa), rezala (meat in a thin yogurt and cardamom gravy) and the famous kathi roll (kebabs in a wrap)

Posto Bora/Poppy Seed Fritters -- to save the soul

Friday was her Ma's Puja day. A day of thorough cleaning, sparse vegetarian eating, smoky incense sticks and hour long prayers.

She didn't like Fridays much. Ma would not let her sleep in late. Early morning the swoosh of the water across the courtyard followed by the broom would wake her up. Thwack-thwack it would go clearing the dirt, chalk dust from yesterday's hop scotch and dry leaves from the Neem tree.That was a signal for her to get out of the bed and take an early bath to avoid Ma's ire.

Before the morning newspaper hit the front veranda Ma would be in the kitchen trying to remove the turmeric stains from last night's maacher jhol. All those sounds of scraping and scrubbing would trouble her innards as she hurriedly dressed to catch the early bus. She wanted to be out before Ma started cleaning the green slightly rusted gas stove and soaping the red gas cylinder. Ma was never one to enjoy such tasks and the rituals she thrust on herself visibly irked her.

Outside she would breath and laugh and discuss Ma's rituals as ridiculous. She would take a bite of her best friend's egg roll ignoring the rule of being vegetarian on Fridays. It never occurred to her to question Ma's belief, to defy Fridays with any more stronger rebellion than this.

Some Fridays would be different though. Manu'r Ma, the maid would arrive early and amidst the clanking and scrubbing, she would hear the harsh monotonous sound of stone grating on stone. Manu'r Ma sitting on the floor would grind posto on the sheel, a pock marked slab of stone, turmeric stained by use and age. The red and green glass bangles on her thin, rough wrists would make a sweet tinkling sound while she rolled the smooth black nora, grating the poppy seeds by rhythmic regular pressure of her hands.

This is the shee-nora/sheel-batta the flat stone used to grind spices back home. Pic Courtesy my Dad

Those days she rushed home early. There was posto waiting at home. Earthy posto bata mixed with a liberal dose of pungent mustard oil and kancha lonka, the lightly crisp, flat posto bora and then aloo posto. Those Fridays she spent five whole minutes in the Puja room, muttering the only shloka she knew and promising to eat only vegetarian on all subsequent Fridays.

She smiled as she thought of those Fridays. How long has it been ? 20? or maybe more ? Her coffee grinder made a soft purring noise as it pulverized the white poppy seeds to a fine Powder. The Merry Maids scrubbed the upstairs bathroom. As soon as the Posto Bora would be done, she would light an incense in the Prayer room. Today was Friday.

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Though this is fiction with heavy dosage of writer's imagination, Fridays were and are days we eat vegetarian and back home almost always my Mom would make posto on Fridays. She wasn't one to stick to rituals though. This goes to Chalks and Chopsticks -- 3 hosted by Sra and created by Aqua. I am not sure if this fits but this IS a very basic recipe/ingred/method in the Bong Kitchen so this post also goes to Jaya's B2B -- Back to Basics, if accepted, basically.

I am sure every self respecting middle aged Bong has made posto bora and know how to.

So this recipes is not really for them.

It is for those young bespectacled Bong grad students on their meager stipends and heavy work loads. Those who have used up all the minutes on their calling card for today is the 27th and pay day is not until end of the week. For those whose emotional balance is so skewed that desire of posto bora with mususrir dal and bhaat sits high up just next to an appreciative nod from the advisor.To give them some pleasure on a scorching hot Tuesday I will tell them how to make posto bora.


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Posto Bora/Poppy Seed Fritters

Today I will not use my Magic Bullet which will make a better paste of Posto or Poppy Seeds. Instead the Coffee Grinder will be brought out, it is an inexpensive and a familiar feature in a sambar smelling, begun bhaja greasing grad student apartment (I hope!).

Put 1/2 cup of Posto/Poppy Seeds in the coffee grinder and make a fine powder, as fine as the machine can without burning up that is. This will make 4-5 posto bora.

Transfer the powder to a bowl. It might be grainy, you can't help it.

Add approx 4-5 tbsp of water to this powder and try to make a paste. Throw is some finely chopped onion, 2 green chili chopped real fine, salt and few drops of Mustard Oil. You don't have Mustard Oil ? Ok forget it and weep.

The paste will look runny. There is no way you can make bora(fritters) with them. So add a little Maida/AP Flour. I think 2-3 tsp should be ok. Add a tsp of flour, mix well and see if the consistency is still very watery. If yes --> add a half tsp more.
Note: If you happen to have a Magic Bullet or a sheel or anything where you can wet grind the posto to a fine thick paste, you might not need the flour.

Grease a flat pan with oil and put on the hob. Very little oil is needed to make these, 2 tsp at most.Mustard oil is the oil of choice here. If you don't have that again weep and use Canola.

Shape a flat fritter/tikki/bora kind of structure with your bare hands, it will be irregular and just hold its shape. Put it on the pan and let it cook at medium heat. Once the edges have browned flip. Now it will be flippable.Do the other side till both sides are nicely browned.

You can have these just by themselves or with rice. Tastes awesome. Ok, you already know that.

Similar Recipes:

Alu Posto

Kundru Posto

Jhinge Chingri Posto

Sharmila's Posto Bora -- one of my fav bloggers and I hope she comes back soon

Everyday Chicken Biryani -- Version 1.0

Once upon a time there was a young girl newly married and her husband who too was newly married and they did not cook much.To simplify life they would often make a very easy chicken biryani. It would start of as a chicken curry and then they would add rice to it, put everything in the pressure cooker, close the lid and then wait expectantly for the pressure to go whoosh 3 times. Their little house smelled nice with the rich spices and promises of a better tomorrow hung limply in the fragrant air. They would each have a plateful and think that was the best biryani ever.

Slowly they made friends, friend who introduced them to authentic Biryani places, the hole in the wall meat shops, who also served delicious Biryani. Sometimes they would travel 40 miles on the weekend to some such place for a plate of goat biryani and that taste would linger for the entire week. The everyday chicken biryani seemed too rustic, too homely compared to such exotic tastes. They did not feel the urge to cook it as often anymore.

Then they acquired a friend whose cooking was legendary and whose Mutton Biryani was the closest you could get to paradise. They would wait and wait for lunch or a dinner invite at her place, for a taste of that Biryani. The husband frustrated with all the waiting finally managed to wrangle the treasured recipe and cooked the legendary Mutton Biryani at home. It took half a day, half a bottle of ghee and tasted like heaven. The taste was so exotic that Every Day Chicken Biryani rarely got made again. The half bottle of ghee ensured that the Legendary Biryani never got made again except on rare occasions.

When the Biryani craving struck they just ordered out from the numerous respectable Biryani places that had now sprung up in the neighborhood.

And then I chanced upon Indosungod's Chicken Biryani. It sounded familiar, comforting and brought back the rich smell that hung in that small house years ago. So I made it. I adapted it to my old style but applied the new techniques and addition of new spices that I learned from her. I also applied the tips that I had learned from all of you in my Egg Pulao post.

I was extra happy with this dish because it had tomatoes, mint and coriander from the garden. I served this Biryani with a simple raita and I added some of the cherry tomatoes to the raita. I also added oven baked spicy potatoes to the Biryani to satisfy my Bong craving for potatoes in a Biryani.

The Everyday Chicken Biryani turned out delicious and comforting. Everyone including BS and LS loved it. Now that is a rare feat.

I say this is version 1.0 because there are many other variations to this delightful one pot meal that I might try in future. For now this=bliss.

Update: This goes to BB#6 at Nupur's delightful One Hot Stove


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Everyday Chicken Biryani

Marinate about 2 lb Chicken with 1/4th Cup yogurt, 1 tsp Biryani Masala, 1 tsp Ginger Paste, 1 tsp Garlic Paste salt and little oil for an an hour or more. Note: Use your own or store bought Biryani Masala

Heat Vegetable Oil in a deep heavy bottomed bottomed pan or in a pressure cooker

Lightly fry 6 cloves of garlic and 2" piece of ginger. Remove and make a paste once it is cooled.

Temper the Oil with
1 Bay Leaf
2" stick of Cinnamon
4 whole clove
4 whole green cardamom
1 black cardamom (optional)
1/2 tsp of Fennel seeds
1/2 tsp Corriander seeds

When the spices sizzle add 1 Cup of chopped red onion. Add 1/2 tsp of sugar and fry the onion till it is soft and translucent and lightly browned at the edges.

Next add the ginger-garlic paste that you made and saute for a couple more minutes

Add 1 Cup of chopped carrots and green beans finely chopped and saute for 2-3 minutes. (This is optional)

Add 1 large potato chopped in quarters and saute for a minute. (This is NOT optional)

Now add the marinated chicken pieces and fry them till they turn a light golden.

Next add the spice powders
a little Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp Biryani Masala
Note: I did not add any red chili powder as the kids were going to eat it too but add according to your taste.

Mix the masala with chicken and saute for 3-4 minutes. If needed sprinkle a little water while frying.

Add 2 Tbsp of chopped mint and 2 Tbsp of coriander leaves. 1 Tbsp of Dried mint works great too.

Add salt to taste and cook the chicken till they are 3/4th done

Meanwhile wash 2 cups of Basmati rice and drain all the water. Smear the rice grains with ghee so that the rice grains are nicely coated. Also bring about 5 cups of water to boil in a separate pot. Mostly the ratio of rice :water suggested is 1:2 but do what works best with the rice you use.

Once the chicken is almost done, add the rice and mix lightly. Do not stir vigorously. Adjust for salt and other seasonings. At this point I added 2 whole green chili chopped. Add the boiling water to this pan . Bring it to a simmer, then keep gas heat at medium low and cover the pan with lid. Cook till rice is almost done and the water has been absorbed. Now remove from heat, fluff the rice with a fork and open the lid in part.

If at this point some of the rice grains were not fully cooked, put a big griddle/tawa on medium flame and put this pan with biryani on the griddle/tawa. I sprinkled some fried onion on the rice, covered the lid in part and let it cook for 5-6 minutes. By this time all the grains were nicely done.

OR

If you are doing in a pressure cooker hassle is less. Close the pressure cooker lid and cook till rice is done.

Serving Options 1: Now the Biryani popular in Bengal is always served with potatoes and so I love potatoes in my Biryani. This time instead of adding potato directly to the biryani this is what I did. I sliced thickly two red potatoes and tossed them with olive oil, sea salt and little roasted cumin powder. I then baked them in the oven at 400F for 25-30 mins. I then garnished the Biryani with these potato slices and fried onions.

Serve with a raita. To make raita put thick yogurt in a bowl and stir with a whisk or fork to have a uniform thick consistency. Add little milk to get the right consistency. Add chopped cucumber, chopped onion and tomatoes. Add little sugar, chaat masala and little salt. Mix well. Serve cold