The Bengali fish rezala is a delicious and fragrant Mughlai recipe made with yoghurt, poppy seeds and cashew nut paste. This fragrant fish curry tastes best when paired with steamed rice or lightly seasoned rice recipes
The Mughlai cuisine from West Bengal, though rich and royal, is much more mild than it’s counterparts from other Indian regions. You will find Bengali Mughlai recipes more fragrant and most times sweet to taste as well. The use of rose water, kewra essence, saffron, milk, nut pastes etc is much more as opposed to heat inducing elements. One such mouthwatering recipe from the cuisine is the rezala – a rich onions, yogurt, poppy seeds and nut based sauce. While the meat rezalas are more popular, we at home especially love fish rezala. As is the case with a Bengali fish curry, the pieces are first fried and then cooked in the sauce. Same is the method even in this rich, Mughlai style fish curry recipe. Though the rezala recipe comes from the royal kitchens, it is absolutely a breeze to make. And that too with with easily available ingredients.
The fish rezala is a delicately spiced and immensely fragrant recipe. This thick textured sauce, gets it’s body from the addition of yoghurt, poppy seeds and cashew nut paste. On the other hand, the garam masala, ghee, rose water and kewra water lend their aromas to it. You can now imagine what a fabulous fish recipe this is going to be. When cooking, your whole house is bound to smell incredible, given the ingredients that go into it. Since the rezala recipe is made with ground onions and creamy/aromatic elements, it tends to taste slightly sweetish and heavenly. Even if your yoghurt is slightly tangy, this curry will still taste yummy. Nonetheless, the garnish of fresh chilis provide a slight kick of heat to the rezala curry.
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Serving suggestions
Since the fish rezala itself is a wonderful tasting curry, a bowl of plain, steamed rice is it’s best friend. And that is how it is generally serves, as well. That’s because you will be able to realise and relish the delicately flavored curry better with it. However, since I made this over the weekend and I had some extra time in hand, I chose to pair it with my Bengali vegetable fried rice. Lightly seasoned rice recipe like this fried rice are also good options. So, you could also try this combination out, too. But yes, this fish recipe will taste best when had with rice and not flatbreads.
As far as the type of fish that you can use for the recipe you have many choices. I have used salmon here but you can also use rui/katla (carp family fishes) or tilapia steaks for the recipe. They all will taste fantastic in your fish rezala. This delicious fish recipe is also a great addition on your dinner party menu. Not only doe it taste amazing, but it is a quick and easy recipe too. This Bengali recipe is actually an under 30 minute recipe! What more could one ask for. 🙂
If you are planning to give my fish rezala a try, then I’d love to hear back from you. You can share your food pictures with me over on Instagram or write in your feedback below.
Eat hearty!
Fish rezala (Bengali style fish in white gravy)
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- 500 g salmon (or rohu/katla/tilapia) cut in steaks
- 1 cup onion roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger roughly chopped
- 3-4 cloves garlic
- 4 tbsp yoghurt whisked until lump free
- 2 tbsp poppy seeds soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
- 6-7 cashew nuts soaked in warm water for 30 minutes
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp shahi jeera caraway seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 dried red chilli
- ½ inch cinnamon stick
- 2-3 green cardamom
- 1-2 cloves
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp Bengali garam masala*
- ¼ tsp kewra essence
- ¼ tsp rosewater
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 2-3 fresh chilis slit
- 3-4 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain the poppy seeds and the cashews and grind to a smooth paste with very little water, make sure that this paste isn't grainy, once done keep it aside. Also, grind the onions, ginger and garlic to a smooth paste without any water
- Wash and pat dry the fish pieces and then rub them with a teaspoon of salt. Heat the oil in your cooking pot and fry the fish pieces, 3-4 minutes each side. Drain and set aside
- In the same oil, add all the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom, caraway seeds, bay leaf, dried chili, cloves, peppercorns). When fragrant over medium heat, add the onion, ginger, garlic paste and cook until it doesn't smell raw
- Add the poppy seed- cashew nut paste, mix well and cook until oil separates. Lower the flame and add the yoghurt, mix well and cook until oil surfaces on top
- Add the coriander powder, salt and sugar along with ¼ cup hot water, once this comes to a boil, add the fried fish pieces. Stir them well in the curry, cover and cook for 5-7 minutes
- Turn the flame off, add the fresh chillis, ghee, garam masala, rose water and kewra water, gently mix all these in and keep covered for 10 minutes
- Serve your delicious Bengali fish rezala with steamed rice or any lightly seasoned rice of choice. Enjoy!
Notes
- *To make the Bengali garam masala, dry roast equal quantities of cinnamon, green cardamom and cloves, until fragrant. Cool and grind to a fine powder, store in air tight jar and use as needed
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon
- g - grams
