Low Carb Leftover Turkey Curry
I finally got the chance to cook something I have always wanted to try, a full turkey! They were on sale at the grocery store so I figured why not.
I must say, it was phenomenal, some of the most flavourful, tender, and juicy roast turkey I have ever had. We absolutely gorged ourselves on it. But even after a few platefuls each, between myself and the girlfriend, and the cats, we still had well over half of that 8 kg turkey leftover!
Of course turkey itself makes amazing leftovers, but surely even we will get sick of eating just turkey by the time we get to the final few ounces of the bird.
I decided to try and turn some of that leftover turkey into one of my favourite dishes. A flavourful and spicy low carb curry.
Turkey curry is an exciting and flavour packed low carb recipe for using up the many pounds of turkey leftover after the latest holiday feast. Of course you can use fresh turkey meat, or any poultry you would like for this recipe. But this recipe really shines as a way to use up leftover roast turkey.
What is in Low Carb leftover turkey curry?
Ingredients:
- Butter/ghee
- 1 medium onion
- 2-3 large garlic cloves
- Fresh ginger
- Cinnamon stick
- Cardamom pods
- Plain yogurt
- Ground almonds
- Curry powder
- Ground turmeric
- Cayenne Pepper
- Heavy whipping cream
- Tomato paste
- Lemon Juice
- Hot green chilies
- Fresh cilantro
How To make leftover Turkey Curry
Since the turkey is leftovers are already cooked and hopefully seasoned, this curry is made in a similar style to Murgh Makhani, or Indian Butter chicken where traditionally cooked tandoori chicken is simmered in a spiced tomato gravy until it becomes soft, tender, and flavourful.
This recipe follows a similar path, starting with an oven roasted turkey tikka.
The first step is to prepare a yogurt based tikka marinade for the leftover turkey. This will help add some flavour to the meat, and the yogurt will add some moisture and protect the meat while cooking. This is especially important if your turkey is already a little bit on the dry side. Luckily, thanks to the 2 day dry brine, I don’t have the problem with this turkey.
Turkey Tikka Masala Marinade Ingredients:
- 1 cup Plain Yogurt
- 1 ½ tablespoons of curry powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the tikka marinade and add 24 oz [1 ½ pounds] of chopped turkey meat. I left some of the pieces of turkey fairly large knowing they would break down during cooking, while others were bite sized. Make sure each piece of turkey is well coated in the tikka masala marinade.
Once coated, transfer the turkey pieces to a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in the oven at 350°F [175°C] for around 15 minutes until the turkey just begins to roast. The turkey is already cooked so you just need to lock in some of those flavours and dry out the marinade slightly. When you remove the turkey from the oven, it may seem a little on the dry side. Don’t worry, it will spend plenty of time simmering in a rich yogurt gravy.
Making Leftover Turkey Curry
- In a small bowl, mix together the 2 tablespoons of ground almonds and ½ cup of plain yogurt to soften. Set aside.
- Start the curry gravy using the same methods as an authentic Indian chicken curry, heat some butter/oil/ghee in a deep pan and fry off the sliced onions, garlic, and ginger for several minutes until the onions begin to soften and brown. Approximately 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Season with salt to help draw out the moisture.
- Once the onions have started to brown, add the whole cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, 1 tablespoon turmeric, and 2 green chilies. Fry the spices and aromatics for approximately 1 minute adding oil/butter/ghee if necessary to prevent sticking and burning.
- Once the spices have properly toasted, add in a few tablespoons of water at a time to water fry the onions, you don’t want to boil them, just small amounts of water to deglaze the pan and help break down the onions and spices into a paste.
- Next, add the cooked turkey tikka pieces to the pan along with yogurt and ground almond mixture, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, and approximately 1 cup of water. Combine well.
- Cover and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, but like any curry the longer it simmers the better. Season to taste.
- Before serving squeeze in fresh lime/lemon juice, and top with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with your favourite low carb side dish such as cauliflower rice, or other Desi favourite like my celeriac or zucchini bhaji.
Low Carb Leftover Turkey Curry
IMPORTANT – There are often Frequently Asked Questions within the blog post that you may find helpful. Simply scroll back up to read them!
Equipment
- Knife and Cutting Board
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Baking sheet
- Large Deep fry pan/pot/wok with a lid
Ingredients
Leftover Turkey Curry
- 2 tablespoons oil/butter/ghee
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced
- 1 whole cinnamon stick
- 2 whole cardamom pods
- 1 tablespoon turmeric ground
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper ground
- 2 whole hot green chilies
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 2 tablespoon ground almonds
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup water
- 24 oz Oven roasted turkey tikka see recipe & ingredients below
Oven Turkey Tikka Masala
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons curry powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin powder
- ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 24 oz leftover turkey meat cooked
- salt & pepper
Instructions
Oven Roasted Turkey Tikka Masala
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the tikka marinade and add 24 oz [1 ½ pounds] of chopped turkey meat. Combine well and make sure each piece of turkey is well coated in the tikka masala marinade.
- Once coated, transfer the turkey pieces to a parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in the oven at 350°F [175°C] for around 15 minutes until the turkey just begins to roast. It may seem a little on the dry side. Don’t worry, it will spend plenty of time simmering in a rich yogurt gravy. Set aside.
Low Carb Leftover Turkey Curry
- In a small bowl, mix together the ground almonds and ½ cup of plain yogurt to soften. Set aside.
- Start the curry gravy by heating some butter/oil/ghee in a deep pan and fry off the sliced onions, garlic, and ginger for several minutes until the onions begin to soften and brown. Approximately 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Once the onions have started to brown, add the whole cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, turmeric, and green chilies. Fry the spices and aromatics for approximately 1 minute adding oil/butter/ghee if necessary to prevent sticking and burning.
- Once the spices have properly toasted, add in a few tablespoons of water at a time to water fry the onions, you don’t want to boil them, just small amounts of water to deglaze the pan and help break down the onions and spices into a paste.
- Next, add the cooked turkey tikka pieces to the pan along with yogurt and ground almond mixture, 3 tablespoons tomato paste, ¼ cup of heavy whipping cream, and approximately 1 cup of water. Combine well. cover and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes. the longer the better.
- Before serving squeeze in fresh lime/lemon juice, and top with fresh chopped cilantro. Serve with preferred low carb side dish our cauliflower rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated using the recipe calculator and verified database available from Cronometer. Although every reasonable effort is made to provide accurate information this estimate is provided as courteously and convenience only. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe.
Try the free recipe calculator at CronometerHave you Seen my latest Helpful post?
Are you craving fruit?
Feeling like you can’t enjoy any fruit on your low carb diet?
I got you covered, here is a comprehensive list of keto friendly fruits under 10g net carbs per serving!
Take a second to share if you liked this recipe:
Time To Dive In!
There you have it. A quick yet extremely flavourful low carb dinner idea for some of that leftover turkey that you may not have considered before. Even after using a hefty portion in this curry, and eating another hefty portion of turkey on top of that. We will have half of that 8 kg bird left, so expect some more creative way to use turkey coming up.
Make sure you stay up to date with these great low carb recipes by joining the gang right down below. It only takes 1 second and then you can get delicious low carb recipes like this right to your inbox!
