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
- Heat the oil and the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat on the hob.
- Add the chopped chillies, ginger, and garlic to the pan and cook for 2 minutes.
- Then, add the cumin, chilli powder, and curry powder and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the onions and peppers to the pan and cook for five minutes.
- Next, add the chicken stock, chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, and mango chutney.
- Stir through and simmer for ten minutes.
- 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.
- Simmer for 15 minutes.
- 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.