What is the first thing that comes to mind when you see red cloth-wrapped pan in roadside shops? Wow! Your mind matched with mine! It is difficult to find a Bengali who does not want to eat the ‘biryani’ wherever it comes to mind. This traditional dish takes its place on the table for weddings or any happy occasion. Although there are various types of biryani available, ‘Kacchi Biryani’ adds extra joy to the minds of food lovers.
There are basically two types of biryani. One is ‘Kacchi,’ and another is ‘Pakki.’ Yes, Kachchi is raw, and Pakki is cooked one. It is named after an Urdu word.
This is because Kacchi biryani is cooked with raw meat mixed with fragrant rice and various spices. On the other hand, in pakki, the meat is pre-cooked. This means that the name of this biryani is raw biryani due to the use of raw meat.
There are various stories about the arrival of biryani in history, but in the Indian subcontinent, the name biryani is known to have come by the Mughals. It is said that Begum Mamtaz Mahal, wife of Emperor Shah Jahan, once went to the barracks and saw the feeble health of the soldiers. That’s when she instructed the chef to create something beneficial to the soldiers’ health and possibly cook quickly. From such thoughts, meat, rice, and spices are cooked at once. Since then, this delicious dish has taken place on the table of the Mughals. And the Mughals have spread its taste and smell everywhere in the world.
It is said that such cooking methods came from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. However, when this food was added to the Indian subcontinent’s food list, it became tastier with the help of spices. During the cooking of Kacchi biryani, fragrant rice, raw meat of goat, yoghurt, nutmeg, jaggery, rose water, saffron, and other necessary spices are mixed and the mouth of the pot is glued with flour and placed in a small net or on a coal fire. All the blends create an excellent taste from time to time without any movement. Many people will blam how come I skip the tasty potatoes in it! That’s how it is. It is very rare that people don’t tell the shopkeeper that ‘Give me an extra piece of potato’ while having Kachchi Biriyani. The potatoes are cut into large pieces with large pieces of meat, fried with saffron, and added to the biryani, which has a different taste.
The demand for raw biryani is highest in Dhaka, especially in old Dhaka. However, it is spreading day by day in other cities of the country. However, the demand for it is high in many countries in the world. In addition to the various traditional raw biryani shops in Dhaka, there are a lot of food traders in small and big restaurants these days. In the age of asking for a treat in words, one packet Kacchi Biriyani can make a day. It is the easiest solution to make the mind happy. Although many people eat different drinks with Kachchi biryani, the traditional Borhani is the foremost in this regard.
It would be hard to believe if someone said, “I have never eaten Kacchi Biryani.” However, if this is the case, then in this world of opportunity to make order sitting in this house, do not sit for a day without tasting this tradition. You will experience firsthand how delicious this food is and why it grabbed Bengali’s interest.
