This is a bit of a pilot recipe using our very new and not quite released tandoori seasoning (watch this space)! A seasoning we have been working away on and refining over the last 2 years. It has a lovely warmth to it without being overpowering and the cinnamon adds a complexity to the seasoning that really helps everything sing! Alternatively you can use a shop bought tandoori seasoning.
Marinading the pheasant in yoghurt will help to tenderise the bird allowing it to stay super succulent when roasted over the embers. The lactic acid in the yoghurt breaks down the protein within the meat in a much gentler way than a citrus based marinade but still giving a little tangy flavour to the pheasant.
This will be a fairly hot and fast cook, locking in as much juiciness as possible, whilst getting that classic tandoori char across the pheasant. Utilising the Big Green Egg rotisserie attachment we will be able to keep the fat of the pheasant constantly basting the bird as it spins slowly over charcoal, we always use Green Olive Firewood premium professional lumpwood charcoal. Any excess fat slowly dripping into the embers below and sending up little smoky atomic flavour bombs.
Serve your tandoori pheasant tucked up in a flatbread with lots of fresh herbs, crunchy veg and a drizzle of yoghurt, not forgetting a green chutney made with lots of wild greens!
2 oven ready pheasants – preferably hen pheasant
150g plain yoghurt
10g ginger, minced
20g garlic, minced
25g Salt Box Tandoori seasoning (available soon) – or shop bought tandoori seasoning
30g tomato paste or fermented red pepper paste
Maldon sea salt
A few large sprigs of bay leaves
Check your pheasants on the inside to make sure that the carcass is nice and clean, use a little kitchen roll to blot up any blood. Don’t wash the inside as you want the pheasants to be as dry as possible, allowing maximum marinade absorption.
In a large bowl stir together the yoghurt, tandoori seasoning, ginger paste, garlic paste and tomato or pepper paste, mix together well. Season the inside of each pheasant with a pinch of Maldon salt and place into the marinade, turn the pheasants in the tandoori marinade so that it is completely covered.
Cover the pheasants and marinade in the fridge for a minimum of an hour but longer if you can bear to weight – ideally 4 hours. Remove your marinaded tandoori pheasants from the fridge one hour before cooking and stuff some fresh bay leaves into the cavity of each bird.
Set up your Big Green Egg for direct Rotisserie cooking. Open up the dome of your Big Green Egg and insert the Rotisserie ring onto the rim of your Egg, making sure that the thicker part of the wedge is facing the front of the Egg. Close the lid of your Egg and make sure there are no gaps around the edge. Place the Rotisserie motor on to its mount, plug it into the mains or a weatherproof extension lead.
Open up the lid again and open up the draft and top vent fully, fill your egg with charcoal to just below the lip of the fire bowl. Place a lit fire lighter into the middle and create a little volcano of charcoal around it. Once the firelighter has burnt away and the charcoal is glowing, shut the lid and close the vents by two thirds to reduce and settle the temperature to 210℃.
Unscrew the wing nut of one of the prongs and feed it down the handle end of the rotisserie (making sure the spikey prongs are pointed towards the middle of the rotisserie spit!) and tighten. Push the spit through marinaded tandoori pheasant securing with the other set of rotisserie forks, tighten the wing nuts on both prongs and make sure the pheasant is completely secure and that the pheasants are as central to the spit as possible.
Once the Egg has reached temperature, lift the Dome a little to burp it, insert the spit with the pointy end into the motor unit and switch the motor on. Allow the marinaded tandoori pheasant to complete one full rotation before closing the lid to make sure that there are no pieces of food hanging too close to the fire. Close the Dome and cook away until it hits a core temp of 74℃ using an instant read thermometer, we swear by Thermapen.
Keep an eye on the temperature of the egg throughout the cook and adjust if necessary. The tandoori pheasant should be perfectly blistered and charred, remove the rotisserie spit from the Egg and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Serve your tandoori pheasant tucked up in a quick and easy flatbread with lots of fresh herbs, crunchy veg and a drizzle of yoghurt, not forgetting a green chutney with lots of wild greens!
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Check your pheasants on the inside to make sure that the carcass is nice and clean, use a little kitchen roll to blot up any blood. Don’t wash the inside as you want the pheasants to be as dry as possible, allowing maximum marinade absorption.
Marinade your pheasant in the fridge for a minimum of an hour but longer if you can bear to wait – ideally four hours.
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