Meat
- 1kg meat from saddle of deer, trimmed and cut into 4 steaks
- 1 tbsp Rajasthani spice paste
- 1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
Roast saddle of red deer with pickling sauce
Vivek Singh
17th December 2025
Roast saddle of red deer with pickling sauce
60 min
This is one of the dishes that I am immensely proud of and I feel it embodies what contemporary Curry is all about. Game cooking is fast becoming a lost art in Indian cuisine and is something I feel passionately about preserving and to me this dish is a perfect example of combining new and old, east and west, the best of all worlds.
This dish first appeared on our menus in 2003 and was probably the first dish to cross the £30 mark in an Indian restaurant anywhere in the world! Although it was received well it was not perceived as curry until in 2006 when it won the UK best dishes award for Best Curry in UK! Goes to say, how much things have changed in the last few years with Curry in Britain.
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1tbsp corn/vegetable oil
Sauce
- 3 tbsp oil, preferably mustard oil
- 1 tsp pickling spice mix (1 part mustard seeds, 1 part black onion seeds, 1 part cumin seeds, ½ part fenugreek seeds, 2 parts fennel seeds)
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp ground tumeric
- 200g boiled cashew paste
- 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- 4 green chillies slit lenghtways
- 1 cup lamb stock or water
- 1tsp salt
- 1sbsp jaggery or molasses sugar
- 1 tbsp chopped green coriander
Mushrooms
- 50g shitake mushroom
- 50g oyster mushroom
- Half tsp - red chilli powder
- 1tbsp rice flour
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 1/4th carom seeds
- 1tsp salt
Method
Recipe
Rub the marinade over the steaks and set aside for 30 minutes. Mix the Rajasthani spice paste and yoghurt together and keep aside.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan and add all the seeds. When they begin to crackle add the onions and sauté until golden brown. Add the turmeric followed by the cashew nut paste and cook for 5 minutes
Now whisk in the yogurt and stir for another 5 minutes taking care that the yoghurt does not split. Add the stock, green chillies, salt and simmer for about 10 minutes until the sauce
thickens and gets a glaze. Add molasses and chopped coriander and mix well. Remove and keep warm while you cook the deer steaks.
Heat the oil in a large ovenproof frying pan, add the meat and sear over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, until browned all over. Transfer to an oven preheated to 200°C/400°F/ Gas Mark 6 and roast for 6-8 minutes.
Remove from the oven; spread the Rajasthani spice paste and yoghurt mix on top and place under a hot grill (or return to the oven) for 1-2 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.
Divide the sauce between 4 serving plates and place the red deer on top. You may serve the meat sliced or as steaks depending upon what you prefer.
Serve with pilau rice or a potato dish on the side as accompaniment.
Mushrooms
Clean, wash and slice the mushrooms. Cut it in to thin slices. Add the rest of the ingredients & deep fry it for crisp texture.
If you were preparing this for dinner party or more people, get your butcher to bone and roll an entire saddle for you and simply marinate it with all the spices including Rajasthani spice mix and yoghurt and roast it in a hot oven at 200 deg C for 15 min
Remove from the oven and allow resting for another 15 minutes and serving simply sliced. Nice and easy! Remember since venison/ deer is very lean, it can get dry very quickly so always best to cook the meat medium to rare and rest it long enough.
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