Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani)
A Dhaka celebration biryani in which raw yogurt-marinated goat meat and potatoes are layered under par-boiled rice and sealed to cook together on slow dum.
Bangladeshi · advanced · serves 6
prep 40 min · cook 120 min
~1060 cal · 49g protein · 106g carbs · 47g fat · 5g fiber · 7g sugars · 18g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Kacchi biryani is Dhaka's celebration dish, the centrepiece of weddings, Eid, and family feasts. Kacchi means raw: the goat meat goes into the pot marinated but uncooked, layered with par-boiled rice and sealed, so the meat and rice finish together in trapped steam. This dum method is what sets kacchi apart from pakki biryani, where the meat is cooked before layering.
The marinade is built on yogurt and raw papaya paste, whose enzymes tenderize the meat during the long, gentle cook, along with ginger and garlic, chilli, and warm spices. Fried onions (beresta) go into both the marinade and the layers, and the Dhaka style tucks in halved potatoes that drink up the spiced juices. , kewra, mint, and perfume the top.
The pot is sealed with a rope of atta dough (or foil and a tight lid) and cooked low and slow until the meat is fork-tender and the grains are fragrant. It is served with borhani, a spiced yogurt drink, and a simple salad.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
2 lbs bone-in goat or mutton, cut into biryani pieces
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp raw papaya paste
Hard to find? a small amount of kiwi puree or commercial meat tenderizer - papaya is the traditional enzyme tenderizer; kiwi acts faster, so shorten the marinade if you use it
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp (or biryani masala)
1 heaping tbsp whole spices (green , cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves)
3 large onions, thinly sliced, for beresta
1/2 cup mustard oil (or ), for frying
3 cups aged basmati (or kalijeera) rice
3 tbsp
a pinch in 1/4 cup , soaked in warm milk
3 medium potatoes, peeled and halved
1 tbsp kewra (or rose) water
1/2 cup fresh mint and cilantro, chopped
to taste salt
Instructions
1
Fry the sliced onions in the oil over medium heat until deep golden and crisp, then drain on paper; this beresta goes into both the marinade and the layers.
✎ Chef’s note
Take the onions all the way to a deep gold, not pale, for the caramel depth beresta gives the dish, but pull them before they burn or they turn bitter.
2
Marinate the meat with the yogurt, raw papaya paste, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, garam masala, half the beresta, a spoon of the frying oil, and salt, and refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours).
3
Lightly fry the halved potatoes in a little of the oil with a pinch of turmeric and salt until golden at the edges, then set aside.
4
Par-boil the rinsed rice in salted water with the whole spices until about 70 percent cooked, so a grain still has a firm core, then drain well.
✎ Chef’s note
Undercook the rice to exactly 70 percent here; it finishes on the dum, and rice boiled soft now turns to mush in the sealed pot.
5
Spread a little ghee in a heavy pot, layer in the marinated meat with all its marinade, and nestle the potatoes among it.
6
Spread the par-boiled rice evenly over the meat, then drizzle over the saffron milk, kewra water, remaining beresta, mint and cilantro, and the ghee.
7
Seal the lid with a rope of atta dough (or cover tightly with foil then the lid), cook on high for 10 minutes, then set the pot on a tawa or heat diffuser over the lowest heat for about 1.5 hours.
8
Rest the sealed pot off the heat for 10 minutes, then open, fluff gently from the bottom up without breaking the grains, and serve with borhani and salad.
Old Dhaka kacchi biryani tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Dhaka. Ilish, the hilsa, is the national fish and a seasonal one, running up from the sea into the rivers with the monsoon and landed in quantity at Chandpur and Mawa. At the Bengali new year it is eaten as panta ilish, fried fish alongside rice that has been left overnight in water.
🗺️
Bangladesh. Hilsa is the national fish and the argument is about which river it came from, with Padma hilsa held to be the finest. It is oily, bony and eaten with the bones negotiated rather than removed, cooked with mustard oil and mustard paste. Panch phoron, the five-seed mix, is fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard and fennel, added whole.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Bangladesh
Bhuna KhichuriToasted rice and moong dal cooked rich with ghee, whole spices, and caramelized onion, monsoon comfort from Dhaka.
Ruti with Aloo BhajiSoft whole-wheat flatbread with a lightly spiced potato-and-onion curry, the everyday Dhaka breakfast.
Shorshe IlishHilsa fish in a pungent mustard-and-green-chili sauce, the prized national dish of Bengal, eaten with rice.
Browse all Bangladesh recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour. Keep up to 2 days and reheat until piping hot all the way through.
Make it a Bangladesh meal
BorhaniDrink
RoshogollaDessert
Chingri Malaikari (Prawn Coconut Curry)Lunch
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Frequently asked questions
What is Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani)?
A Dhaka celebration biryani in which raw yogurt-marinated goat meat and potatoes are layered under par-boiled rice and sealed to cook together on slow dum.
Where does Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) come from?
Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) is a Bangladeshi dish from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Can Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Kacchi Biryani (Dhaka-Style Mutton Biryani) take to make?
About 160 minutes total (40 minutes prep, 120 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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