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Venison and rhubarb khoresh

Matt Tebbutt's Iranian-style venison and rhubarb khoresh, with Halal venison and a Halal or vegetable stock: venison slow-cooked with garlic, chilli, ginger, cumin and turmeric, finished with saffron, wilted herbs, rhubarb and chickpeas.

Persian · Main · Easy · 4 servings · 150 min

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

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Why Halal checks matter here

The stew is 800 g of venison haunch, which turns on how the deer was killed, simmered in 600 ml of chicken stock, a chicken product, and served with shop-bought pitta.

Halal-critical ingredients

• Venison: Deer is a permitted animal, so the question is the killing. Darul Iftaa Chicago permits a deer shot with Allah's name said at the time of shooting even if it dies before the hunter reaches it; most Deobandi scholars, as MuftiSays reports, require the throat to be cut properly after a rifle kill. Buy venison from a Halal butcher or with Halal certification, or ask how a hunted deer was killed and follow your school. See Venison.
• Chicken stock: Bought chicken stock is a chicken product, and the UK's mainstream stock cubes contain uncertified chicken or meat fat. Use a Halal-certified chicken stock or a vegan vegetable stock. See Stock cubes.
• Pitta: Some industrial breads use L-cysteine (E920) as a dough conditioner; its source is not always stated. Choose pitta without E920, or certified. See L-cysteine.

Ingredients

Khoresh

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• large bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
• bunch fresh mint, leaves picked
• 800 g Halal venison haunch, in 2 cm chunks
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 green chilli, sliced
• 1 tbsp fresh root ginger, very finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 600 ml Halal-certified chicken stock, or vegetable stock
• pinch saffron
• 4 rhubarb sticks, in 2 cm chunks
• 600 g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• to taste salt and black pepper

To serve

• to serve pitta breads without E920, or certified, warmed

Method

1. Wilt the herbs. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the parsley and mint and cook briefly until wilted and the oil is flavoured. Lift them out and set aside.
2. Brown the venison. Add the remaining oil to the pan over a medium heat. Season the venison with salt and pepper and brown it all over for 5 minutes. Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes more.
3. Add the spices. Add the garlic, chilli, ginger, cumin, turmeric, sugar and black pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Simmer. Add the stock, cover and simmer gently for 1½ hours, adding more water if needed.
5. Add the rhubarb. Add the saffron, the wilted herbs and the rhubarb and cook for 15 minutes more, or until the rhubarb is soft.
6. Add the chickpeas. Smash some of the chickpeas with a fork and stir them all into the stew.
7. Serve. Season with salt and pepper and serve with the warm pitta.

Allergens

gluten (pitta)

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Food's 'Venison and rhubarb khoresh' by Matt Tebbutt, from Saturday Kitchen, which calls it a slow-cooked Iranian-style stew (serves 4; prepare less than 30 minutes, cook over 2 hours: a large bunch of parsley leaves and a bunch of mint leaves wilted briefly in 2 tbsp hot olive oil and set aside; 800 g venison haunch in 2 cm chunks seasoned and browned 5 minutes in the remaining 2 tbsp oil; a chopped onion fried 5 minutes; 6 sliced garlic cloves, a sliced green chilli, 1 tbsp very finely chopped ginger, 1 tsp each ground cumin and turmeric, 2 tsp palm sugar and black pepper cooked 2 minutes; 600 ml chicken stock added and simmered gently, covered, for 1½ hours, with more water if needed; a pinch of saffron, the herbs and 4 rhubarb sticks in 2 cm chunks cooked 15 minutes more, until soft; 600 g drained and rinsed chickpeas, some smashed with a fork, added; seasoned and served with warmed pitta). We specified Halal venison, a Halal-certified chicken or vegetable stock and pitta without E920 or certified; the published steps are split at their natural breaks. BBC Food gives no skill level; we rate it easy. Nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Photograph from our ingredient library: raw venison, not the finished dish from this recipe.