Turkey Curry in a Hurry

Does anyone else have about 6 huge turkeys taking up ALL the space in their freezer because turkey was so gosh darn cheap right before Thanksgiving? When turkeys are priced at $0.15/pound, my husband (who loves turkey almost as much as he loves bacon) always makes multiple trips to the store to buy "just one more" turkey to roast or barbecue later for dinner, sandwiches, etc. Needless to say, we do the same with ham when it plummets around Christmastime. So pretty much the only thing we have in our freezer at the moment are ham slabs and turkey carcasses.

Last weekend, Paul decided to test out the new Weber grill he received as a Christmas gift from the best wife ever and smoke us some turkey! He chose Hickory chips and the scent was pretty overwhelming and seemed to follow us around for days after his grilling project was complete. The turkey was so moist and incredibly flavorful and we enjoyed it with mashed potatoes and gravy for the first couple nights. Then, we made soup and that really did not use up much of the remaining meat. Turkey sandwiches in all forms came next...followed shortly by this turkey curry. This used up the last of our 14-pound bird and was definitely the tastiest leftover item we made! It will definitely be on the menu again whenever we get around to roasting our next bird...which will be soon because we have five left.

Super easy and quick, we paired this delicious dinner with the onion kulcha I posted about previously. We served the curry on top of some steamed Basmati rice tossed with toasted cumin seeds. Delicious!

Turkey Curry in a Hurry
adapted heavily from America's Test Kitchen

3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed (optional)
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tablespoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
4 large cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 cups vegetables, roasted*
1 cup water
2 cups cooked turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup roasted, salted cashew halves
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt (Do NOT substitute low-fat yogurt - the sauce will break!)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just shimmering. Add the onion, raisins, curry powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until the onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Stir in the roasted vegetables, chickpeas, and water and cook, stirring frequently, until heated through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the turkey and peas and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes more.
Off the heat, stir in the yogurt and cilantro. Season with salt to taste and serve immediately.

*I cubed up two large yams, tossed them with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and 1 heaping teaspoon each of curry powder, garam masala, and salt and roasted them in a 450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. We almost ate all of these by themselves while the sauce was cooking...it took a lot of self control to stop.