The best part of Xmas… leftovers!
PREP TIME: 5 mins
COOKING TIME: 30 mins
DIFFICULTY: easy
IDEAL FOR: Xmas leftovers, midweek meal, crowd-pleaser
BUDGET: £
(Get your spice cupboard stocked pre-Xmas though!)
I love Christmas
I go mad for the decorations, the tree, the lights and the smells of Christmas.
And I love the lead up with meeting friends and over-indulging, a little, with food and drink.
But this year, that hasn’t happened.
We’ve tried (in Tier 2) to have a stiff-upper-lip and don our ski gear to have a socially distanced drink.
But the fact is… it’s pretty miserable.
We’ve got a lot of great news this December with vaccinations coming online.
And that is a true Christmas miracle.
So, we’re grateful for those genius’ who’ve worked, at pace, to help rid the planet of Covid.
True to Christmas though, we are still cooking great food, albeit for fewer people.
But I know, we will probably have over-done it and have plenty of leftovers on Boxing Day.
Love Boxing Day!
But what’s it all about if it’s not just about leftovers, watching TV and dozing?
Boxing Day
First of all, it has nothing to do with the sport of boxing.
It got its name in the 1800s when Queen Victoria was on the throne.
When the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor.
Traditionally, Boxing Day was a day off for servants.
And the day when they received a special Christmas box from their masters.
And it’s when the servants would go home and give Christmas boxes to their families.
Churches also helped in the creation of Boxing Day.
They would take collections from churchgoers throughout the year, store it in a box and hand it out to the poor on Boxing Day.
But mostly, for the majority of us, Boxing Day really only means one thing – leftovers.
There are loads of great ideas on how to use up your leftovers.
From an epic turkey sandwich to turkey pie and this year, I’m doing turkey curry.
So, make sure you get your spice cupboard stocked before Boxing Daa!
Have a wonderful Christmas Day and an even better leftovers-Boxing-Day.
What’s your favourite Christmas leftover recipe? Leave a comment.
Christmas leftover butter turkey curry
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 3 tbsp chopped ginger
- 12 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 x 450g tinned tomatoes
- 450 g cooked turkey, shredded
- 1/2 cup cream, yoghurt, or coconut milk
- 2 tbsp almond butter (or use peanut butter as a subsitute)
- 4 – 8 tbsp brown sugar – taste as you add
- sea salt to taste
Spices
- 2 tbsp garam masala
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 – 2 chilli powder (depends how spicy you like your curry)
- 8 cardammon pods, take seeds outs
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, in a large pot, heat the oil and add the onion. Cook until it's well browned – approx 10 mins. While the onion is cooking, place all the spices into a small bowl and mix.
- Now, add the ginger, garlic, and spices to the pot and cook for 1min. Add the tomatoes and a half cup of water to the pot and scrape the bottom to lift any bits stuck-on. Now, just let the pot simmer, partially covered to reduce splatters, for 15 minutes.
- After 15mins, transfer curry in the pot to a blender and blend on high until smooth then return the curry to the pot. Add the turkey, cream (or yoghurt or coconut milk), almond butter (or peanut butter), and sugar and heat through. Season to taste with sea salt.