Rizzala Tofu With Saffron Rice…my vegetarian take on the curry made by the Nawabs Of Bhopal (step wise)

Hello all!

Feels like I’m finally getting back to regular blogging. I have behaved myself and have posted again within two days of my last post on rosemary-onion Focaccia, hmm keeping fingers crossed. I hope things stay in my favor and I get back to active blogging..

I wanted to make this recipe in the last month, when the theme of the month for the ‘Only’ Series was Royal Cooking. But because of the health constraints, could not..so decided to start the soya obsession for my event  ‘Only’ Cooking With Soya,  with this preparation. It is guest hosted by Preeti this month. Also reposting Jackfruit & Soya Burger for the event.

As explained by Camellia Panjabi, “Rizzala is a little known Muslim style curry found in only two cities of India-Calcutta and Bhopal. It’s origin is possibly the latter, where it is a curry  found only in the homes of the Muslim aristocracy. A fresh herb curry, this can best be described as a green korma”.

I’ve read two versions of the Rizzala, one obviously by Camellia and the other is by The King Of Sailana, Shri. Digvijay Singh. Even King Digvijay Singh claims that the origin of the curry is from Bhopal. It was made by the begum of the Nawab of Bhopal, hence has an aristocratic origin.

It is basically an aromatic green curry/ korma, whose aroma and unique flavor lingers for a long time. Both the authors have used coriander as the main leaf for preparing curry. While the Sailana king, advices usage of clarified butter/ ghee in making curry, Camellia, asks for regular oil with a final tadka/ tempering of clarified butter. The Sailana king uses curds in the curry while Camellia has opted for lemon juice. The major difference comes in the addition of cashew nuts, suggested only by Camellia. I realized while cooking, why Camellia opted for oil and not ghee..loads of calories get added with the cashew nuts. This curry is definitely a rich curry and definitely not for the weight watchers (that includes me too, LOL) but if eaten  in small quantity, should not be a problem.

I have adapted my preparation using Camellia’s recipe. This is originally a non-veg curry made either with mutton or chicken. I’ve replaced the mutton with it’s closest veg resemblance..tofu. I’ve explained a few advantages of eating Soy products here and I’ll highly recommend all women to read it.

I made a mild saffron rice to go with the curry. The rice complimented the curry really well..The light yellow color of the rice gives a beautiful contrast to the green of the curry.

Rizzala Tofu

            Serves:5-6

Preparation Time:15mins

    Cooking Time:45mins

 

Ingredients FOR RIZZALA TOFU

400gms Tofu/ Soya Paneer

1/2cup Cashew nuts/ Kaju

4-6 green chilies

4medium/ 2large onions/ Pyaaz – sliced

1-2  handful Coriander leaves/ 1- 2 mutthi dhania patta ( I used 1)

1/2cup Mint leaves/ Pudina

1tbsp coriander pwd/ dhaniya pwd

1/2tsp cumin pwd/ adha chammacch jeera pwd

4 plum garlic cloves/  4 moti lahsun ki kaliyan -finely chpped

1-1/2 inch ginger piece/ dedh inch adrak ka tukda -finely chopped

60ml cream/ malai

5tbsp oil

1tbsp ghee

2tsp lemon juice

1/2tsp sugar

salt to taste

Whole spices/ sabut masale

6 cardamom/ elaichi

2 bay leaves/ tej patta

1-1/2 inch stick cinnamon/ dedh inch dalchini ka tukda

1 blade of mace/ javitri

Ingredients For Saffron Rice

1cup long grain rice

a large pinch of saffron / kesar

salt to taste

2 cups water

1tbsp ghee/ clarified butter

4 cloves/ laung

Method For Rizzala Tofu

Soak the cashew nut in warm water for half an hour.

Heat 3tbsp of oil and sauté the onions on a medium flame till brown in color but not burnt. Keep stirring on frequent intervals to avoid the burning and enhance even browning, best is to spread the onions while cooking. Once done, move the onions to one side of the pan to remove the excess oil.

Wash the coriander and mint leaves, ensure that the leaves are fresh, this helps give the beautiful light green color.

Grind together the cashew nuts, brown onion, coriander-mint leaves and green chilies. Adjust the chilies as per your taste, or how hot you like.

Heat the remaining 2tbsp oil on low flame and add the whole spices except the mace. Also add finely chopped ginger and garlic. Keep the flame low during this process so that all the flavors seep into the oil.

Add the cubed tofu and sauté on high flame so as to sear it lightly. This takes about 2-3minutes. Do this step carefully as it helps the tofu imbibe the aroma and flavors of the spices added earlier.

Reduce flame and add coriander and cumin powder, mix properly and cook for a minute.

Add the onion-cashew-leaves paste and mix. Also add salt to taste, sugar and lemon juice, mix thoroughly.

Add about a cup of water and cook for about 2-3minutes and then add the cream. Remove from fire.Do not overcook, else it destroys the green color.

Finally just before serving, heat a table spoon of ghee and add a mace leaf, cook on low flame for 2minutes. Remove the mace and add the ghee to the curry.

Serve hot with saffron rice.

Method To Make Saffron Rice

Wash and soak rice for 15-20mins. Drain the water.

Soak saffron in half cup warm water. Boil the remaining water.

Heat a table spoon of ghee and add the cloves, keep the flame low as ghee heats up fast.

On a medium flame sauté the rice in ghee for 3-4mins and then add boiling water & salt to taste. Reduce the flame and let the rice cook with a lid on, open on one side, for the steam to pass.

Once the rice is almost done add the saffron water and let the rice cook completely.

Serve hot.