Chicken Rezala- The Mughlai Delicacy

Wash the chicken pieces properly. Put some salt in it and marinate the chicken with salt. Keep aside.

Now in a pan, add 1 cinnamon stick, 3 pieces of cardamoms, 2 cloves, 1 teaspoon of whole black pepper seeds, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds and all the small threads of mace. Dry roast them in a low flame.

When the aroma of the roasted whole spices begin to develop, take it out and make a fine powder out of it with the help of a blender or mixer grinder. (This is the secret exotic spice to make awesome Rezala.)

Now take 1 teaspoon of the fine powder and 50 grams of curd and marinate the chicken with it properly, so that every part of the chicken gets coated with it. Now keep it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. (You can keep it for 2-3 hours as well. )

Now make a fine paste of 1 large sized onion or 2 medium sized onions and keep it aside.

Next, make a fine paste of 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds and 9-10 cashew nuts using small amount of water. Please be very careful, while making this paste. (The paste has to be very fine as making a paste of poppy seeds may take some time.)

In a cup, add 5 tablespoon of warm Milk and add 3 drops of Meetha Ittar in it.

After 30 minutes or so, take out the marinated chicken from refrigerator. Heat 4 tablespoon of ghee in a deep pan on a medium flame.

When the smell of ghee starts to develop, add rest of the whole spices in it i.e. 2 medium sizes of bay leaves, 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 pieces of cardamoms and 2 cloves and stir it well for 1 minute.

When the smell of fried whole spices starts to develop, add 1/2 teaspoon of garlic paste in it, stir well till there is no presence of raw smell of garlic. Next add the 1 table spoon of ginger paste in it and stir well for 1 minute.

Now it is the time to add the onion paste. After adding the onion paste, stir it well, so that onion paste does not get burn and stick to the bottom or side of the pan. Stir well for another 2 to 3 minutes.

When the water from onion starts to come out, add some salt in it. Now add the marinated chicken in it and mix it very well with all the ingredients and cook it for another 3 -4 minutes. Now, add some sugar in it and add 1/2 cup of water in it.

Now close the pan with the help of a lid and cook it in a low flame for another 15 minutes. Do stir the chicken once or twice in between. After 15 or 20 minutes, open the lid. If the chicken gets cooked properly, the oil will start to float at the top.

At this point, add the paste of cashew nuts and poppy seeds in it and mix it very well. Now cook it for another 5 minutes

Add the kewra water, rose water and the meetha ittar and milk, mix it well. Taste it and if required add some salt and sugar in it and cook the entire chicken for another 5-6 minutes. Now take out the pan from the heat and pour the chicken rezala in a serving bowl.

Next heat the rest of the ghee in a bowl or a spoon and add the red whole chillies in it. When the Red chillies started to crackle, remove it from the heat and pour it over the Chicken Rezala.

Chicken Rezala is ready to be served. It tastes best with Naan or Paratha or Tandoori Roti.