Asian Style Roast Turkey

Turkey is at it's peak of popularity from Thanksgiving through Christmas.  I was lucky enough to buy a few very well priced fresh turkeys recently and I wanted to play around with the flavors.  This is a Sri Lankan/ Asian style roast turkey that gets lots of great flavor from curry leaves, pandan leaves, ginger and garlic.  You can eat this turkey with traditional stuffing and vegetables or you can eat it with savory rice like my Confetti Fried Rice. 

Ingredients:
1 turkey 10-14lbs
1 stick butter
1-2 pandan leaves
1 branch curry leaves
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
salt and black pepper (season generously)
1 Tbs grated ginger
1 Tbs grated garlic
1 stalk celery
1 lemon sliced

     


 Directions:
Melt butter with curry leaves, pandan leave, ginger, garlic, red chili powder, turmeric, paprika, salt and pepper.  Allow the butter mixture to cool down (best done hours earlier and put in the fridge to firm up a bit).  Apply the butter mixture under the skin and inside the cleaned out turkey cavity and over the skin.  Insert celery, lemon slices, pandan leaves and curry leaves (reserved from the melted butter).   Place turkey on roasting rack and fill baking pan with 3 cups chicken stock.  Bake in a 325 degree uncovered 15 minutes for every pound of turkey (This turkey was a 12 pound turkey and took 3 1/4 hours in the oven). Baste every hour.  If turkey begins to brown too much, cover with foil and continue cooking.  When thickest part between the leg and breast reaches 165 degrees remove from oven and rest for 30 minutes before carving.   Enjoy. 

 

 Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.