RECIPE: Cheat’s Leftover Turkey Curry

This is only called ‘Cheat’s Leftover Turkey Curry‘ as it is made predominantly from store cupboard ingredients rather than creating a spice mix or paste as you would in a traditional Indian dish.

Each Easter and Christmas, I cook a turkey. There is always plenty of meat leftover. The kids usually have turkey sandwiches for lunch the next day and then I make a turkey curry for dinner. Using up the leftovers in this way is a great way of keeping the costs down at Christmas, which is always an expensive time.

Here is how to make an easy turkey curry from leftovers. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Servings: 4-6
Vegetarian/ Vegan: NO
Dairy-free: YES- If served without the raita
Gluten-free: YES

Ingredients for Turkey Curry

• Shredded cooked meat from 1/2 turkey breast or one turkey leg (I use a combination of both)
• 1 pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• A can of chopped tomatoes
• 500 ml chicken stock
• 1 chilli, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed 
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1-inch chunk of ginger, finely chopped or grated (or 1 tsp of ground ginger)
• 2 tbsp mango chutney
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large knob of butter

How to Make Turkey Curry

1. Heat the oil and the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat on the hob.
2. Add the chopped chillies, ginger, and garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
3. Then, add the cumin, chilli powder, and curry powder and cook for a further 2 minutes.
4. Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook for five minutes.
5. Next, add the chicken stock, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, and mango chutney.
6. Stir through and simmer for ten minutes.
7. Add the chopped turkey meat to the pan and stir through so that there is an even distribution of meat and it is covered by the liquid.
8. Simmer for 15 minutes.
9. Serve with pilau rice, naan bread, and raita. 

Additional Tips

• Cheat’s leftover turkey curry is a fantastic recipe to try when you have leftover meat from your roast turkey Christmas dinner, or from an Easter or Thanksgiving meal.
• Try adding a handful of sultanas to give the curry a fruity element.
• try accompanying your leftover turkey curry with some saag bhaji, saag aloo, or sweet potato saag aloo.
• You might like to read our guides to pairing wine with turkey and pairing wine with Indian food.
• Add more chilli if you prefer a spicier curry.