Haloodiefoodie’s ultimate guide to Biryani.

HaloodieFoodie’s Ultimate Guide to Biryani

Biryani is a popular South Asian dish that has many iterations, however, not all types of Biryani are equal.
Sadly, the art of authentic Kache Gosht 'Dum' Biryani has vanished from most households. Most home cooks now prefer the easier 'Pakki Gosht' Biryani, where the meat is partially precooked and then steamed with rice. Sadly, this iteration is just a mix of meat and spice, which is as harmonious as a Hollywood couple!
Real biryani is cooked slowly under dum (steam) with raw meat, the Kache Gosht Biryani results in a marriage of flavour and textures with the meat perfectly cooked and the rice steamed in the moisture of the meat. Kache Gosht Biryani is a speciality of the Mughals and Nawabs and is still found in Biryani houses of Hyderabad.
Today, I demystify the ancient secrets of the Kache Gosht Dum Biryani and give foolproof tips giving you insight into cooking this amazing celebratory dish.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 3 hours
Cook Time 3 hours
Course How to, Lunch, Main Course
Cuisine Indian, Pakistani
Servings 20 people

Equipment

  • 1 large Biryani pot with lid
  • 1 cast iron tawa
  • large karahi for frying onions or any other suitable pot

Ingredients
  

First Lamb Marination:

  • 2.5 kg lamb shoulder/leg, cut into pieces
  • 500 g natural low fat yogurt
  • 2 pinches saffron strands
  • ¼ nutmeg, freshly grated
  • 5 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 4 tsp garlic paste
  • 4 tsp ginger paste
  • 4 tsp green chilli paste
  • 5 tsp chilli powder
  • tsp salt
  • 5 tsp coriander and cumin mixed powder (3½tsp coriander powder; 1½tsp cumin powder)
  • tsp turmeric powder

Second Lamb Marination:

  • 315 g (2 cups) cooked and drained masoor daal; simmer in salted water until soft. Masoor daal is optional! It's a Guji thing, Gujis always find innovative ways to get in their 5 veg a day!
  • 250 g fresh tomatoes (pureed and reduced until thick)
  • ⅔ of your fried onions (keep ⅓ for layering and garnishing)
  • 1 cup mint leaves, chopped
  • cup coriander leaves, chopped
  • 15 aloo bukhara (dried plums)
  • 1 pack Shan Masala Bombay Biryani mix (Alternatively use your own spice mix including coriander powder, cumin powder, chilli powder, black pepper, and turmeric powder)
  • salt to taste
  • red chilli powder to taste
  • 4 tbsp dessicated coconut, optional
  • 750 g natural yogurt, optional (Mrs HF has started to leave out the second addition of yogurt)

Rice:

  • 1.5 kg premium long-grain basmati, aged rice (approx 9.5 cups rice)
  • 12 tsp salt
  • 2 large cinnamon sticks
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 5 cloves
  • ½ tsp black pepper pods
  • 6 whole cardamom pods

Fried Onions:

  • 12 medium onions, sliced
  • fry oil

Chapati Dough Seal:

  • 2 cups chapatti flour
  • warm water as required

Final Biryani Assembly Ingredients:

  • ghee
  • cm potato slices (for layering at the bottom of the pot)
  • coriander leaves, chopped for topping
  • remaining fried onions
  • saffron infused water (10 strands steeped in 50ml warm water.
  • fried potatoes, mixed into the rice layers, optional 

Instructions
 

Introduction

Preparation on the day before cooking the Biryani: Lamb Marination

  • Marinate 2.5kg of lamb shoulder/leg in the following spices for 24 hours or overnight.

Frying onions

On the day of cooking the Biryani

Rice matters

How to cook perfect Biryani rice

A video breakdown of the cooking rice stage

Layering the meat and rice

Biryani assembly

Cooking the biryani

Any questions

Keyword BIryani, Dum Biryani

Join the Conversation

  1. Shaakera says:

    Brother Haloodi, you have outdone yourself here. I always thought I had my biryani nailed, but the process and techniques shared here has taken it to another level Mashallah.

    I’ve always been terrified of cooking lamb biryani with the worry that it won’t cook – but the meat was fall apart tender with no burning at the bottom…

    10/10 – amazing flavours, technique and recipe.

    1. Amazing feedback. Thanks Shaakera, we really appreciate your feedback.

  2. 5 stars
    I’ve always made ‘kache gosht’ biryani but struggled with getting my rice cooked correctly. The tips and techniques in this recipe are something else!

    Perfectly cooked rice and perfect proportion of meat to rice, Alhamdullilah!

    JazakAllah for sharing this gem of a recipe!!!

    1. Amazing feedback Uzma. The rice techniques make sure all the rice is perfectly cooked! So good and reasonably easy too!

  3. Khatija says:

    Jazakallah khair for this recipe, made it on eid. It smelt so good as it was on dum and tasted delicious just like my late mum’s and this is how she always made it too.
    Definitely the best and only way Biryani should be made.

    1. Aww, such a wonderful message.
      Jzk for trying it out.
      May Allah bless youe mother with a lofty place in jannah. Ameen

  4. Hawabibi says:

    MashaAllah!! To your website. First time for visiting this because someone asked for a recipe and I directed them to your cooking. Can’t go wrong. You’re a legend. Such easy step by step cooking with video’s. Perfect for wives who want their husbands to learn to cook a decent meal.
    Absolutely love the layout to the website. Every recipe is easy to follow and understand even for those who are 1st time cooks. Allah reward your efforts. You will have created many marital bliss in many homes. Allah grant you tundrosti and affiyah. Ameen.
    Now teach us fish biryani plz. Its one I just wouldn’t know which ingredients and flavours work best with this. Jzk.

    1. Aww.

      Jzk for the amazing comment.
      We strive to make Haloodiefoodie.com the best in terms of content.
      It’s very hard work, however positive comments always make us work harder to keep on improving our recipes.

      Jzk again for commenting on our page and I hope to see your awesome cooks in our socials.

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