Chatora City to celebrate National Curry Week with Rajasthani Venison Laal Maas

Chatora City, the Indian restaurant in the City of London, is marking National Curry Week from 5^th to 11^th October with a special dish built around Scottish venison. The restaurant, which sits close to Bank and Mansion House stations, is led by chef Imamuddin Khan in the kitchen, previously of The Cinnamon Club, Kahani and Baluchi in London. Khan and his team will be serving a Rajasthani Venison Laal Maas special all week long.

The dish is a fiery venison curry served with root vegetables in a warmly spiced sauce of Teja chilli, cardamom, cinnamon, garlic and cloves. It is finished with roasted parsnip and comes with a truffle naan. Laal maas is typically made with mutton and notable for the heat delivered by dried red chillies, so the substitution of Scottish venison and the addition of local root vegetables puts a distinctively British spin on it. This is met with the Teja chilli, which is an Indian variety grown mainly in Andhra Pradesh and valued for its pungency.

National Curry Week was established to celebrate South Asian cuisine in Britain and has become a fixture in the restaurant calendar, with venues across the country showcasing regional dishes, often from outside the familiar British curry-house repertoire. Regional Indian cooking has become increasingly prominent on London menus in recent years, with restaurants moving away from generic pan-Indian menus towards dishes rooted in specific states and traditions.

Chatora City’s Rajasthani Venison Laal Maas reflects that trend while also drawing on British produce – a pairing that has become more common as Indian restaurants in the capital source domestic game and seasonal vegetables to achieve a reduced carbon footprint. Rajasthani cooking, developed in an arid region where fresh vegetables were historically scarce, relies heavily on meat, dairy and dried spices, and laal maas is among its best-known exports.

Diners wanting to try the dish will need to visit during National Curry Week as it’s presented as a special only for the period.

Food Desk

The Rajasthani Venison Laal Maas is available from 5^th October until 11^th October at Chatora City, 4 Great St Thomas Apostle, London EC4V 2BH. For further information or to book a table, visit the restaurant’s website here.