Kacchi Biryani

I still remember the first time I had this dish. It was made by my Bangladeshi friend, Bijli's mom who had made it in Bangladesh and carried it to the US. When I had asked her for the recipe , she nonchalantly suggested mixing the meat with all the spices and cooking it for 4-6 hours in an oven. Since then my quest for this biryani started and after several failed attempts( not because it was inedible, but because it did not taste like mashi's) I finally came up with this recipe.

Ingredients

1. Mutton-2 kgs
2. Jayatri--1/2 tsp
3. Kali jeera-1 kg
4. Jeera pwd-1 tbsp
5. ghee- 1.5 cup
6. pepper-1-2 tsp
   
7. aloo-1/2 kg
   
8. curd-1.25 cup
9. Onion-1/2 kg
10. halud-color
11. ginger- 2 tbsp
12. rosewater- 2 tbsp
13. garlic-2 tsp
14. kewra-2 tbsp
15. dalchini-1/2 tsp
16. Aloo bokhara 8-10
17. Elaichi - 6 pieces
18. Atta-1 cup to make dough
19. Clove- 4 ground
20. Tej patta- 2
    
21. Nutmeg-1 tsp
22. Salt- 2 tsp
    

Preparation

1. Wash meat , add salt , keep for 30 mins. Wash again and drain water.
2. Fry onions in ghee till brown and keep apart . When cold make into paste.
3. Add halud to potato and fry till brown.
4. In the hari( container you will cook) add meat, ginger, garlic, onion,all dry spices and mix.
5. Add yogurt, kewra, rose water and mix well.
6. Place potatoes on meat.
7. Add a little ghee and aloo bokharas.
8. Wash rice well and drain, Boil 12 cups of salt water and add rice. As soon as water boils drain rice. Set aside the water.
   
9. Remove 1 cup of rice water and add 3/4 cup ghee and add to meat mixture. Place the half cooked rice on the meat.
10. Sprinkle little color/ Saffron on rice. Mix remaining ghee in 1 cup of rice water and add to the pot.Add enough water so rice is submerged but not floating in water.
    
11. Roll atta into dough and use it to seal pot.
12. Heat oven to 350F, keep for 3 hours and break seal to enjoy!!