3.0/5 rating (40 votes)

Tandoori Style Pigeon Breast

Heat Mild
Serves 4
Prep 5 mins
Marinade 20 mins
Cook 10 mins

Pigeon breast beautifully spiced in a tandoori style marinade

Hari says
I think this is a really lovely way to cook pigeon especially if you are worried that pigeon may be too strong and gamey for you. The spices combine beautifully with the flavour of the meat to lift it making this a really special dish.
In terms of the marinade, it isn't a traditional tandoori marinade. We are creating here it's more of a 'tandoori style' flavour which works with this meat. I like to pan fry the breasts first to get a wonderful colour and aroma and then I smear over the second marinade and cook them in the oven. Remember with pigeon you don't want to over cook it so keep an eye on it, especially if like me, you prefer it slightly more on the pink side. And secondly - let it rest for at least 5-6 minutes before you dive in.

To buy the main ingredients for my Tandoori, check out my curry kit here.

Ingredients
Method

8 pigeon breasts

First Marinade

4 cloves garlic
3 cm piece of ginger
1 tsp of salt
½ tsp chilli powder
juice from 1 lemon

Yoghurt Marinade

100ml thick Greek yoghurt
1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
1 tsp of garam masala
1 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Method

First Marinade

Blend the ginger, garlic to make a paste.
Mix the ginger and garlic paste with lemon juice, salt, chilli powder and coat the pigeon breasts. Leave them to marinate for about 20 minutes.

Yoghurt Marinade

Meanwhile make up a second marinade with the yoghurt, kashmiri chilli powder, garam masala and crushed cumin seeds.
Heat the oven to 180ºC
Once marinaded heat a frying pan and fry the breasts for about 1 minutes on each side.
Remove and place on an oven try then smear the yoghurt marinade over each breast. Place in the oven and cook for a further 3-4 minutes if you want the breasts pink. Longer if you prefer them more well done.
Remove from the oven and leave them to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Slice the breast and squeeze with a little lemon and serve with some salad.

Nutritional information

Typical values*	per Serving
Calories	333
Fat (g)	13
of which saturates (g)	1
Carbohydrates (g)	4
of which sugars (g)	2
Fibre (g)	0
Protein (g)	48
Salt (mg)	592

*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.