Kacchi Biryani

Ingredients

Mutton marinade

• 1.5 kggoat or mutton, bone-in, in large pieces
• 400 gthick full-fat yoghurt, hung 30 min
• 3 tbspraw papaya paste (skin and flesh)
• 3 tbspginger paste
• 3 tbspgarlic paste
• 2 tbspBangladeshi biryani masala
• 1 tbspred chilli powder
• 1 tspground white pepper
• 1 tspshahi jeera (caraway)
• ½ tspground mace
• ½ tspground nutmeg
• 2 tbspmustard oil
• 2 tspsalt
• 60 gfried onions (beresta), crushed

Rice

• 800 gchinigura or basmati rice, rinsed and soaked 30 min
• 3 litreswater
• 3 tbspsalt
• 1cinnamon stick
• 5green cardamom pods
• 4cloves
• 2bay leaves

Layering

• 600 gsmall potatoes, peeled, rubbed with ½ tsp turmeric and a little salt, fried golden
• 150 gghee
• 80 gfried onions
• 12dried plums (alu bukhara)
• 120 mlwhole milk with ½ tsp saffron and 1 tbsp kewra water
• 60 gmawa or 3 tbsp cream (optional, Dhaka style)
• 2 tbspraisins

Seal

• 200 gplain flour kneaded with 100 ml water into a stiff rope of dough

Directions

1. Mix the mutton with every marinade ingredient, rubbing hard so the papaya paste and yoghurt reach the bone, and marinate at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. Papaya is the tenderiser that makes raw-meat biryani possible.
2. Bring the rice water to a rolling boil with the salt and whole spices, add the drained rice and boil 4–5 minutes only, until the grain breaks into three pieces when pressed. Drain hard.
3. Take the mutton out of the fridge an hour before cooking so it is not fridge-cold when the pot is sealed.
4. Smear the base of a heavy-bottomed pot with ghee, spread the marinated mutton with all its marinade in an even layer, and press the fried potatoes and dried plums in among the pieces.
5. Cover with the parboiled rice in an even blanket. Do not press it down; you want it loose so steam can travel.
6. Scatter the fried onions, raisins and mawa over the rice, trickle over the melted ghee and the saffron-kewra milk in streaks so the finished rice is patchy white, cream and gold.
7. Press the rope of dough around the rim, clamp the lid on and seal it shut. Set the pot on high heat for exactly 8 minutes to get the steam going, then move it to the lowest possible heat, ideally over a heat diffuser, and cook undisturbed for 1 hour 15 minutes.
8. Traditionally live coals are set on the lid as well; at home, a heavy cast-iron pan on top gives some of the same top heat.
9. Rest sealed off the heat for 20 minutes, then break the seal at the table. Dig down with a wide spoon from one side so each serving carries rice, a piece of mutton and a potato, and serve with borhani, the salted spiced yoghurt drink.

Technique

• Kacchi means raw: the meat goes into the pot uncooked and cooks entirely in its own steam under the rice. This is why the marinade, the seal and the low heat are non-negotiable.
• Use bone-in goat with some fat. Lean boneless meat will be dry and the rice above it will taste of nothing.
• Too much papaya paste, or more than about 8 hours of it, turns the meat mealy. Three tablespoons for 1.5 kg is the ceiling.
• Chinigura, the small aromatic Bangladeshi rice, is what Dhaka uses; it needs an even shorter parboil than basmati, about 3 minutes.

Substitutions

• No raw papaya: 2 tbsp of pineapple juice or 1 tsp of meat tenderiser will do the same job, but marinate only 3 hours.
• Mustard oil can be replaced with ghee, though you lose the sharp Bengali edge; heat it to smoking first if you want a milder mustard note.

Variations

• Morog polao, the lighter Dhaka chicken version, cooked with the chicken part-fried first and a sweeter, milder masala.
• Beef kacchi, common in Chattogram, using bone-in shank and a longer 2-hour dum.

History

Old Dhaka dish of raw marinated mutton layered with rice and sealed for cooking; the centrepiece of Dhaka weddings, served with borhani.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kacchi Biryani?

Kacchi Biryani is a main from Bangladesh: dhaka wedding biryani of raw marinated mutton layered with rice. Old Dhaka dish of raw marinated mutton layered with rice and sealed for cooking; the centrepiece of Dhaka weddings, served with borhani.

How long does Kacchi Biryani take to make?

Kacchi Biryani takes 50 min plus 4 hr marinating of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Kacchi Biryani?

Yes, within limits. No raw papaya: 2 tbsp of pineapple juice or 1 tsp of meat tenderiser will do the same job, but marinate only 3 hours. Mustard oil can be replaced with ghee, though you lose the sharp Bengali edge; heat it to smoking first if you want a milder mustard note.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kacchi Biryani?

Cover with the parboiled rice in an even blanket. Do not press it down; you want it loose so steam can travel.