🐦 Stuffed pigeon (hamam mahshi)

Name: Stuffed pigeon (hamam mahshi)
Total time: 120 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Egypt · Nile Delta
Ingredients: 4 young pigeons, cleaned; 200 g green freekeh (or short-grain rice), rinsed; 2 onions, finely chopped; 40 g ghee; 1 tsp each cumin, cinnamon and black pepper; 2 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves; 1.5 litres water, salt

Origin: Egypt · Nile Delta

826kcal

per serving · 350 g

236kcal

per 100 g

63 gProtein18 g / 100 g

42 gFat12 g / 100 g

49 gCarbs14 g / 100 g

Hamam mahshi is young pigeon stuffed with spiced green freekeh or rice, gently boiled in a fragrant broth and then roasted or fried until the skin is crisp. The meat is dark, tender and richer than chicken, while the stuffing soaks up the juices and ghee. It is served whole, one bird per person, often with the cooking broth on the side.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

High protein18 g protein per 100 g — 31% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: pigeon

Not veganbecause of: pigeon, ghee

Contains glutenbecause of: freekeh

Contains dairybecause of: ghee

Not keto14 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Gluten ⚠ Milk

What it is made of

pigeonfreekehriceonionspicesghee

Recipe

4 servings120 min

Ingredients

4 young pigeons, cleaned
200 g green freekeh (or short-grain rice), rinsed
2 onions, finely chopped
40 g ghee
1 tsp each cumin, cinnamon and black pepper
2 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves
1.5 litres water, salt

Method

Soak the freekeh for 30 minutes and drain.
Soften half the onion in 20 g ghee, add the freekeh, spices and salt and stir for 3 minutes.
Stuff the pigeons loosely with the mixture and close the openings with a toothpick or thread.
Simmer the birds in water with the remaining onion, cardamom and bay leaves for 40–50 minutes until tender.
Brush with the remaining ghee and roast at 220 °C for 15–20 minutes until the skin is golden and crisp.

How to make it lighter

Roast rather than deep-fry the boiled pigeons to keep the fat down.
Use half the ghee — the broth already flavours the freekeh well.
Freekeh is filling; pair one bird with a large green salad instead of extra bread or rice.

History

Pigeon has been raised for food in Egypt for centuries, and the tall mud-brick dovecotes of the Delta countryside are still a familiar sight. Hamam mahshi is a festive and restaurant dish in Egypt today and is also popular in neighbouring Arab countries.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →