Vindaloo Sauce with Leftover Roast Turkey

The last of the Christmas turkey was seen off a couple of days ago with some fiery homemade vindaloo sauce.  The kids had fish fingers!

I usually follow a Anjum Anand’s recipe when I make a vindaloo, but this is quite a dry dish and as I didn’t have much turkey left I decided to make a thicker vindaloo sauce to stretch the meat a little further.  And after combining several recipes I found online, this is what I came up with.

Serves a greedy 2

2 tsp cumin seeds, or 2 tsp ground
2 tsp coriander seeds, or 2 tsp ground
5 black peppercorns, left whole
2 green cardamom pods, seeds only
2 cloves
1cm cinnamon stick, or 1 tsp ground
1 tsp garam masala
1cm fresh root ginger
7 garlic cloves
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seeds, or 1 tsp English mustard powder
1 large onion
1 tin chopped tomatoes or passata
A large handful of leftover roast turkey, chicken, pork or fresh pork, prawns, chicken…
1/2-1 tsp chilli powder (optional)

If using whole dried spices, dry roast these in a heavy based frying pan for a few minutes and then grind to a powder in a spice grinder.

If using ground spices, add these to the garlic, ginger, salt, and vinegar in a mini food processor and blitz to a paste. Rub the paste all over your leftover meat, or whatever you are using, and leave to marinate for a at least a couple of hours.

When ready to cook, sizzle the onion seeds in the oil in a sauce pan until they start to pop (if using mustard powder either add to the marinade or with the chopped tomatoes), finely slice the onion and fry gently stirring only now and then (this takes about 20-30 minutes) until the onion is brown and caramelised. Add the marinated meat, stir, then add the chopped tomatoes and half a tin of hot water. Bring to the boil then turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook for 20 minutes if using cooked meat and prawns, or 30 minutes if using raw meat.

Serve with basmati rice or naan.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

My Leftover Turkey Compilation

It’s 28th December, and despite having a 5kg bird to work our way through with only five of us I will have to cook sooner or later.  So I am trawling through last year’s turkey recipes and thought it would be good to bring them together in one place.

In no particular order:-

• Turkey stock – same principle as chicken stock, you just might need a bigger pan!
• Turkey Minestrone
• Jamie Oliver’s Sweet Leek & Turkey Pie – a warming winner every year
• Turkey & Chipolata Cassoulet – substitute chicken for turkey
• Red or Green Thai Turkey Curry – Substitute the butternut squash in this recipe for a big handful of leftover turkey
• Chilli con Christmas Turkey Leftovers
• Turkey Chow Mein – I would substitute 2 handfuls of chopped cooked turkey for the chicken in this recipe
• Christmas Turkey Noodle Soup – again substitute chicken for turkey
• Turkey Congee (Rice Soup/Porridge) – I made this with duck stock last year but turkey would work just as well
• Spicy Korean Turkey Rice Salad – a fitting end to turkey and cranberry sauce

Brussel Sprout Minestrone & Other Christmas Variations

I bought some brussel sprouts the 2 weeks ago to decorate a homemade wreath with.  I came across the sad little remainders last weekend and decided to pop them in a minestrone, and no-one was none the wiser.  It got me thinking about all the variations of Christmas minestrone that could be made.  And I think that list is probably endless.

Makes 4 hearty servings

1 medium onion (or substitute with leek)
1 large clove of garlic
I large carrot
1 large stick of celery
100g smoked bacon, or one handful chopped cooked turkey or ham
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 can of beans (haricot, cannellini, kidney, whatever)
1 chicken stock cube + 1 litre boiling water, or 1 litre ham, turkey, or chicken stock
Handful of brussel sprouts, finely sliced or half a small cabbage, spring greens, courgettes, kale…)
1 handful broken pasta or small pasta for soup.
1 tbsp olive oil for frying

Chop the onion and garlic and fry with the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the bacon if using, otherwise add the cooked meat later.  Chop the carrot and celery, or any other vegetables you are using except any leaf/green vegetables (these need less cooking and are added near the end) and add when chopped. Stir and put the lid on for a few minutes to let the vegetables sweat.

Add the beans, tomatoes, stock cube if using, and the stock/boiling water to just cover the vegetables. Add the chopped meat, stir, cover with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes.

Finely slice the brussel sprouts or whichever green leafy vegetable you are using and push down into the soup together with the pasta pieces. Cover and simmer again for 5-10 minutes or until the pasta is soft.

Serve with grated parmesan, or more usually the case in our house, mature cheddar.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry