Where it comes from
Kacchi means raw: the meat goes into the pot uncooked, layered under par-boiled rice, and both finish together under a dough seal. It is the hardest biryani to time and the reason Hyderabad claims the crown.
Method
- 1
Marinate
30:00Mix mutton with yoghurt, ginger-garlic, chilli, half the birista, herbs, ghee and salt. Rest at least four hours, ideally overnight.
- 2
Par-boil the rice
06:00Boil salted water with whole spices, add rice, and drain at 70% done — the grain should still snap in the middle.
- 3
Layer
10:00Marinated meat at the base of a heavy pot, rice over it, then saffron milk, ghee, remaining birista and herbs.
- 4
Seal and dum
50:00Seal the lid with dough. High heat for eight minutes to build steam, then the lowest possible heat over a tawa.
- 5
Rest
15:00Leave sealed off the heat before opening. Mix from the side, not the middle.
Cook's notes
- Papaya paste in the marinade tenderises tough mutton.
- If the seal breaks, the steam is gone — patch it with more dough immediately.
