Authentic Nawabi Hyderabadi Kachi Biryani recipe

This is an authentic Nawabi Hyderabadi Biryani recipe.
Kachi Biryani is one of the very popular and delicious of all Biryanis. It is cooked using slow cooking Dum method. Below is a very special recipe of Kachi Biryani or Hyderabadi Dum Biryani recipe:

Ingredients:

• Rice 4 cups or 1 kg
• One chicken 12 - 16 pieces or 1 kg mutton
• Curd - half cup
• red chili powder 2 tsp
• Onion 3 - sliced into thin pieces
• Ginger/Garlic paste 1 tbsp
• oil one cup
• salt 1 1/2 tsp or to taste
• cinnamon stick - 1
• green cardamoms 4 - 6
• cloves 4
• saffron one pinch or as desired
• yellow food color one pich or as desired
• fresh mint
• fresh coriander
• Lemon juice 2 - 3 tbsp 
• green chilies (small) around 6 - 8

For boiling the basmati rice:

• black caraway seeds (kala zeera) 1 tsp
• cinnamon one stick
• salt 1 tbsp
• Bay leaf one or two leaves

Cooking Method:

• Fry onion slices in a wok in one cup of oil until golden brown and take out.
• Take a bowl and marinate chicken or lamb with ginger/garlic paste, red chili powder, salt, half of the fried onions,  1/2 cup oil (which was used to fry onions), cinnamon, cloves, green cardamoms, curd, lemon juice, chopped mixture of green chilies, fresh coriander and mint leaves.
• Now mix all the ingredients in the bowl and let the chicken marinate for two to three hours.
• Boil soaked basmati rice with salt, black caraway seeds (kala zeera), bay leaves, cinnamon and green cardamoms.
• Drain the water from rice when they are 1/3 rd  done and set them aside.
• Now take a bigger cooking pot and add layer of marinated chicken or lamb, then rice.
• Pour 2 - 3 tbsp oil on rice (from left over oil which we used for frying the onions).
• Sprinkle brown onions, chopped fresh coriander and mint.
• Add saffron and yellow food color mixed in water.
• Now seal the cooking pot lid tightly and turn the heat on.
• Start from flame on high heat for first couple of minutes, once you hear some noise from the pot as it starts cooking, set the flame to low.
• Cook on low flame/heat for around 15 minutes it you are cooking chicken, if its mutton cook it for around 30 - 35 minutes.
• This special Nawabi Kachi Biryani is served with raita.