Kachchi Biryani

Kachchi Biryani is one of the most popular and tempting dishes in Bengali and Indian cuisine. It is a festive food and requires a long time to prepare. It is my favorite and I came up with this version after experimenting quite a lot.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds Mutton, diced into 2 inch cubes

1 ½ cups Basmati Rice

1 ½ cups Yogurt

Salt to taste

2-3 Bay Leaves
3 Cinnamon Sticks (2 inches)
15 Green Cardamoms
5 Black Cardamoms
10 Cloves
½ tsp Shahi Jeera (caraway seeds)
10 Whole Peppercorns

2 large Onions finely sliced

1 tbsp Ginger Paste
1 tbsp Garlic Paste

1/3 cup of Ghee or Vegetable Oil

Few strands of Saffron
3 tbsp Milk
2 tsp Rose Water

7 cups Water

2-3 Green Chilies, sliced lengthwise.
3-4 Golden Prunes
2 medium Potatoes, diced into 1 ½ inch cubes and briefly fried (optional)


Preparation:

Wash and soak rice. Take the pieces of mutton in a bowl and add yogurt, ginger and garlic paste, and salt to it; marinate for at least 2 hours. In a small bowl, soak saffron strands in warm milk.
Heat ghee/oil in a large pan and fry onions until golden yellow (reserve half the fried onions for garnishing). Add bay leaves, 10 green cardamoms, 3 black cardamoms, 2 cinnamon sticks, 8 cloves, and the marinated meat. Fry until all the water evaporates. Add fried potatoes (optional), green chilies and 3 cups of hot water and cook until the meat is tender (this process can be carried out in a pressure cooker to reduce preparation time). Add more hot water if required.

Meanwhile, boil 4 cups of water with salt and shahi jeera in a large saucepan. Take a thin cotton/muslin cloth, wrap 5 green cardamoms, 2 black cardamoms, 1 cinnamon stick, 2 cloves and the peppercorns, and tie the cloth tightly. With flat of your knife, crush them 3-4 times. Place the bundle in the boiling water. Add soaked rice. Do not fully cook the rice. When it is 3/4th done, remove the bundle of whole spices and drain rice.

When meat is tender add prunes, and when oil has separated, turn off the heat. In an oven safe dish, place half the rice and top it with half of the reserved fried onions, 1 tsp rose water, and half the saffron-milk mixture. Spread the meat over the bed of rice and layer it with rest of the rice. Garnish with remaining fried onions, rose water and saffron-milk mixture. Tightly cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees and carefully place the dish inside. Cook for about half an hour and let stand for another 15 minutes. Fluff biryani lightly and serve hot with fresh salad and boiled eggs.