River Cottage Love Your Leftovers
Turkey Curry recipe
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | 11 Dec 2023
Recipe from River Cottage Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
To my mind, the lull between Christmas and New Year loses some of its savour if it isn’t fuelled at least in part by bowls of fragrant curry made from meaty leftovers. If turkey isn’t your thing, you can, of course, make this curry using chicken, lamb or beef.
Ingredients
Serves 6-8
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed or sunflower oil
- 2 onions, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, halved and sliced
- 2–3 tablespoons home-made curry paste, or a favourite ready-made curry paste
- Up to 400g roast carrots or parsnips (or use fresh ones), in chunky pieces
- 400ml tin coconut milk
- 200–300ml chicken stock or gravy
- 1 bay leaf (optional)
- 400–500g roast turkey, white and/or dark meat, torn into large chunks
- Juice of ½ a lime
- Generous handful of coriander and/or mint, tough stalks removed and roughly chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Toasted cashews or flaked almonds, to finish (optional)
Method
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and sauté quite vigorously, until they are softened and golden. Add the garlic and fry for a further minute.
- Reduce the heat a bit, add the curry paste and stir for a minute, then toss in the vegetables and stir until they’re well coated in the fragrant, oniony curry mix.
- Pour in the coconut milk and stock or gravy and stir well to combine with the spicy veg. Add the bay leaf, if using. If your pan is very large, you may need to add a bit more stock or water to cover, but don’t make it too soupy. You want the final mixture to be quite rich and thick.
- Simmer for 10 minutes. If you’re using fresh rather than roast roots, simmer for an extra 5–10 minutes at this stage.
- Now add the turkey and cook until thoroughly heated through, about 5–10 minutes. Stir in the lime juice and about half of the coriander and/ or mint.
- Scatter over the remaining coriander and/or mint, and the toasted nuts, if using. Serve with basmati rice, naan or flatbreads and your favourite chutneys.
Tips and swaps
Curried turkey pie
This curry makes a great pie if you have any left over.
Curried turkey parcels
Small amounts of leftover curry can be wrapped into wontons or enfolded into a pasty. Make sure they are baked until the filling is piping hot.
