KACHCHI BIRYANI BY WITH A SPIN

Kachchi-Biryani-2 KACHCHI BIRYANI BY WITH A SPIN
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Bengali
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
Servings: 6
INGREDIENTS
  • 2 lb mutton
  • 1 teaspoon ginger paste
  • 2 teaspoon garlic paste
  • 3-4 dry red chili
  • 2-3 inches stick of cinnamon half each
  • 4-5 green cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon cloves
  • ½ teaspoon mace
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 6-8 allspice optional
  • ½ teaspoon caraway seed optional
  • 3 tablespoon yogurt
  • ¾ cup ghee or butter
  • 5 medium potato
  • pinch of orange food color optional
  • ½ cup onion thinly sliced
  • 4 cups basmati or kalijeera rice
  • 6 cups water
  • ½ cup condensed milk
  • 2 tablespoon milk
  • pinch of saffron
  • 10-12 alubokhara pitted prunes
  • 4 eggs hard boiled
  • Salt according to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Sprinkle some salt on the meat and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Wash the meat and drain all water.
  2. Take all the spice from red chili to caraway seed, grind.
  3. Take the pot where biryani will be cooked. Add the meat and yogurt, ground spice mix and salt. Marinate for anywhere between 30 minutes to overnight(see notes).
  4. Add about 3 tablespoon of butter/ghee on a frying pan on medium heat.
  5. Add very thinly sliced onion and sautee until fragrant and golden brown.
  6. Wash, peel and cut the potato in big chinks. Usually into 3 pieces for a medium Idaho potato.
  7. If using, rub some orange food color to the potato.
  8. Sprinkle some salt.
  9. Fry the potatoes until slightly golden on the same pan used for the onion.
  10. Wash rice and drain all water.
  11. Boil 6 cups of water. Add salt.
  12. Add the rice.
  13. Turn off the stove at the first sight of water boiling again (bubble forming on the water) after adding the rice. Rice will be uncooked at this point.
  14. Drain the rice completely saving the drained hot water in another clean pot.
  15. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  16. Add the saffron to the milk.
  17. Add butter/ghee to 1 cup of hot water that was set aside in the rice preparing step.
  18. Add the prepared potatoes on top of the marinated meat.
  19. Sprinkle some fried onion.
  20. Add the alubokhara (prunes), if using.
  21. Add half the water-butter mixture.
  22. Layer in the prepared rice.
  23. Sprinkle the saffron milk.
  24. Make 4-5 indentations from the rice layer through the potato till the meat.
  25. Add the condensed milk through the indentations.
  26. Sprinkle the remaining water-butter mixture.
  27. Sprinkle the remaining fried onion.
  28. Add the remaining hot water in a way that water doesn’t go above the rice layer. You may not need to use all of the hot water.
  29. Cook in the oven for 1.5 hours.
  30. Add the hard boiled eggs.
  31. Serve with salad, kabab and chutney.