Mutton Rezala (Bengali White Goat Curry)

Hello everyone I am Debashis, a recipe blogger. I am from India and I believe Indian food is much more than $10 all you can eat buffet. I share recipes of lesser known Indian dishes in North America online and with folks to help people cook good Indian food at home. I also want to remove the myth that all Indian food is spicy.

Bengali’s love the white stuff available in their kitchen shelves , you name them and they are all white – Poppy Seeds (Posto) , Coconut , Cashew Nuts , White Pepper Powder, Yogurt or Curd etc. Imagine what comes to my mind when I see them in my shelf, yeah you guessed it right the all famous Bengali white curry called Rezala. This is an all Bengali dish inspired by the Mughlai cuisine of course but uses some distinct ingredients which aren’t normally used in other Indian Curries. The choice of curd is very important too, if you want authenticity then you should use homemade sweet curd, in my version I have used normal Curd . You can also use Khoya to make it more whitish, I haven’t used that in this version. You need to sprinkle a bit of Kewra water at the end to make it smell divine, you need to have white pepper too if you want to try this dish out. Nutmeg and Mace are two important ingredients as well , I haven’t use these as well and kept it more simpler than it actually is. This is an amazing dish, the actual version of the dish is more white in color than mine as Bengalis do not use Turmeric powder in this dish. Also the use of Khoya in the white paste makes it whiter in color. If you want to make it more authentic, you need to add mace and nutmeg in the ground spice mix and remove Star anise , black cardamoms, cumin’s and fenugreek seeds from the same. Here is my instant pot version of the Bengali Archetypal, Let me know if you like it.

Ingredients:1.5 Lb of Mutton – Cut in medium sized pieces

3 Tablespoons of Plain Yogurt

1 Tablespoon of Chili powder

½ Tablespoon of Turmeric Powder

1 Tablespoon of Cumin powder

5 Tablespoons Oil or Clarified Butter

Salt to taste1.5 Onion cut into thin slices

3 Tablespoons of Ginger Garlic Paste

1 Tablespoons of White Pepper powder

3 Tablespoons of Poppy Seeds

½ Cup of Grated or Sliced Coconuts

8 Cashew nuts

Ground Spices –1 Star Anise

6 Cloves

5 Cardamom pods

3 Bay leaves

2 Black/Big Cardamom

¾ Teaspoons of Shah Jeera seeds

1 Teaspoon of Fennel Seeds

1 Teaspoon of Fenugreek Seeds

1 Teaspoon of Cumin Seeds

2 one inch Cinnamon sticks

1. Take a big bowl and add the mutton there.

2. Add the curd/yogurt in the bowl.

3. Add 1 Tablespoon of chili powder, ½ Tablespoon of Turmeric Powder and 1 Tablespoon of Cumin powder into the bowl.

4. Mix them together, ensure that the marinade if applied consistently on the mutton.

5. Marinate the mutton for a minimum of 30 minutes, for better results marinate for at least 2-3 hours.

1. Take all the ground spices in a flat pan/ or use the Instant pot in sauté mode.

2. Dry roast them for a minute, let them start turning brown.

3. Once you start getting the aroma from the spices, turn the stove off and add them to a blending jar.

4. Grind them into a spice powder.

1. Take the Poppy Seeds, Coconut and the Cashew nuts and soak them in water for 10 minutes.

2. Now add them into a blending jar.

3. Add a little water and blend them into a paste.

4. Your white paste is ready.

1. Take the instant pot or a pressure cooker and add three spoons of Oil or Clarified Butter in it. Use the sauté mode if you are using an Instant pot.

2. When the oil starts to heat, add the onions in the vessel.

3. Sauté the onions until they turn golden brown in color.

4. Add the ginger garlic paste in the vessel and continue sautéing for 3-4 minutes.

5. Take the mix out and add them into a blending Jar.6. Blend them into a thick paste.

1. Pour 2 Tablespoons of oil into the vessel and continue in Sauté mode.

2. Add all the marinated mutton into the vessel and cook for 10 minutes in sauté mode. Folks using a pressure cooker should mix and sauté in medium heat.

3. Now add the Onion Paste prepared before into the Vessel and mix them while cooking in sauté mode for 3 more minutes.

4. Add the entire ground spice powder prepared before into the vessel, mix and cook for another three minutes.

5. Add the White pepper powder into the vessel, add a cup of water into the vessel.

1. Close the lid and Pressure Cook for 20 minutes in the Instant Pot. If you are using a pressure cooker , cook until 6 whistles.

2. Once the Instant pot beeps, let thee pressure leave and open the lid.

3. Mix them gently, and add the white paste into the vessel now that we have prepared before.

4. Add some salt to taste.

5. Mix once and let it cook for 7 more minutes.

6.Add ½ Tablespoon of Kewra Water into the vessel and your dish is ready.