This being the day before Thanksgiving, I'm guessing most folks already have their menu set and all their food purchased for the Big Day. So instead of a Thanksgiving dish, today I'm gifting you with a fabulous recipe for leftover turkey--Turkey Tikka Masala.
I have to admit to a bit of
an addiction to the traditional version of the dish, Chicken Tikka Masala. Its creamy, savory, spicy (did
I mention the cream?) flavor truly wows my taste buds, and I order the
dish pretty much every time I go out for Indian food. But according
to most accounts, this dish isn’t authentic Indian cuisine at
all—it was invented in Great Britain, perhaps even Scotland. (See
here for a fascinating history of the dish.) A few years back, the British Foreign Secretary even declared Chicken Tikka Masala to be the national dish of Great Britain.
“Tikka” refers to the bite-size morsels the chicken is cut into (as opposed to the bone-in leg and thigh pieces traditionally roasted in Tandoor ovens). And “masala” simply means “spice” in Hindi, and is the word commonly used to refer to blends of spices used in cooking. The masala in this case is the spice-flavored sauce.
Because of my love of this Anglo-Indian dish, I was excited to see a recipe for it using leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the New York Times some years ago, which I held onto. And when I finally made it, I was glad I did! I now share it with you, as it's one of the best leftover turkey recipes I've ever eaten.
my end result, served with
rice, cucumber raita, and chutney
Turkey Tikka Masala
(serves 6)
Ingredients for Marinade
4 cups cooked turkey meat, cubed
2 teaspoons garam masala
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika or chili powder
4 teaspoons turmeric or curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 garlic cloves, crushed
4 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
1 cup yogurt
Ingredients for Sauce
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
6 cardamon pods, crushed1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ginger, finely chopped
2 serrano chile peppers, finely chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 28-oz. can tomatoes
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped (plus a few extra sprigs, for garnish)
1 lemon, juiced
Directions
The Marinade
The first thing to do is cut
up your cooked turkey or chicken into 1” cubes (4 cups of meat),
and get it marinating. Here is my turkey, along with the mortar and
pestle I use to crush spices I’ve roasted in a small cast iron
skillet.
cubed turkey and coriander
seeds
Mix together your marinade spices in
a medium sized bowl, along with the garlic and ginger:
Then blend the spices with the yogurt, toss it with the cubed meat, cover and let chill for at
least 4 hours, or overnight:
The Sauce
Next, prepare the sauce.
Sauté the onion slices in 3 T vegetable oil along with
the crushed cardamom pods, the bay leaf, the red pepper
flakes, and the salt.
Cook the onion mixture over
medium heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn, until brown
and soft, about 10 minutes. Then, make a space in the middle of the
pan, add another tablespoon of oil and let it get hot, then toss in the cloves
of crushed garlic, the ginger, and the chili peppers (if using):
Let the garlic and ginger
sizzle (like Paris, in the summer) for a few seconds and then mix it
into the onions. Now add the tomato paste and the can of
tomatoes along with its juice (crush the tomatoes with your hands as you add them):
Bring the sauce to a boil,
then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the liquid is
mostly gone. Now it’s time for the cream! Hurrah! Pour in 2 cups
heavy cream (yum!),
and then add the chopped cilantro. (Be sure to save some sprigs for the
garnish.)
Season to taste with more
salt, if needed (if your
bird was brined or salted, be careful how much you add), and then
simmer the sauce over low heat, stirring occasionally, till it
thickens—about 30-40 minutes.
Let it cool down, discard
the bay leaf, and then blend the sauce. A hand-held mixer (the kind
you stick into the pot) is best, but it can also be done in batches
in a regular blender.
all
blended and smooth
Broil the
Turkey
Now for the finish: Line a
large roasting pan with foil and lay the turkey pieces in a single
layer upon it. (Add any remaining marinade in the bowl to the sauce.
Since you’re using pre-cooked poultry, no worries about
salmonella!)
Broil on high until the
turkey starts to blacken in spots. (Keep an eye on it, as it can go
from perfect to burnt-to-a-crisp in a flash!) No need to turn the
meat over, though you may need to rotate the roasting pan once.
Dump the broiled meat into
the sauce and reheat it till warmed through. Add the juice of one
lemon and stir into sauce. Serve over steamed rice with cilantro
garnish. (See photo at top of post for my results.)
This may all seem like a lot
of work—and Indian food, though not complicated to make, can indeed be
labor intensive—but it was absolutely delicious! Gonna make it again, for sure!
🍗 🌿 🍛
The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst
learned early, during family dinner conversations, the value of both
careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story.
Putting this early education to good use, she now writes the Lefty Award-nominated Sally
Solari Mysteries, a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California.
An
ex-lawyer like her sleuth, Leslie also has degrees in English literature
and the culinary arts. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix
split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai‘i.
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I am saving this one, Leslie. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed, Edith!
DeleteI have ordered the spices so I can make soon. What did you put on the cucumbers? Yogurt? and what else?
ReplyDeleteYogurt mixed with cumin, garlic powder, black pepper, and cilantro. And I salted the cuke slices to let them shed their water before mixing with the yogurt.
DeleteHi Leslie! I always look for leftover turkey recipes each year and this one looks delicious. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYes, this one is certainly a keeper, Tina!
DeleteYou picked up my wave length. I've been looking at recipes for butter chicken, which is very similar. It works great with tofu, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another angle on the cooking.
You're so welcome, Libby! Happy to know another butter chicken fan!
DeleteHappy Thanksgiving 🦃. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou are so very welcome--and same back atcha!
DeleteWhat a great idea for leftover turkey, Leslie! I love using garam masala as a spice. My friend recently gave me her curry chicken recipe, and it's amazing! She also added that she uses curry leaves to add that extra special garnish. I just got some at a local Indian store and am excited to use them.
ReplyDeleteYes, I use garam masala in lots of dishes--it's a great way to perk up vegetables and lots of other things!
Deletedelicious recipe.. I am planning this amazing recipe on my son's birthday party.
ReplyDeleteHope everyone will like this. Thanks a lot for sharing this yummy recipe..
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I have never tried to make a tika masala but have always loved eating it. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe, I will have to give this one a try!
ReplyDelete