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Turkey Biryani

Serves 6

In brainstorming non typical ideas on how to use up leftover turkey, I decided to experiment and made Turkey Biryani. I was terrified it would be a weird contrast and would not work out but I had heard of people making turkey biryani, especially in certain parts of India, so I figured I would try it out anyways. I did a couple of strange things, as you will see from the recipe, but it was worth the risk. I am not a huge fan of turkey, but this biryani turned out to be delicious, despite using precooked meat in it. There was a contrast, but it worked really well! So next time you have turkey left over and you’re not in the mood to make more sandwiches, try this out!

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What you need:

For the marinade
1½ to 2 pounds cooked turkey shredded in 3 to 4 inch pieces, some with bone and some without
½ cup yoghurt
½ cup thick left over turkey gravy (yeah I know!)
2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Red chilli pepper flakes to taste
1½ tsp turmeric
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
½ to 1 tbsp of your favourite biryani masala

For the gravy
2 tbsp oil, vegetable shortening, or butter
1½ onion/1 large red onion sliced thin
½ tbsp mixed whole spices
3 regular size tomatoes/4 smaller tomatoes sliced thin
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Red chilli pepper flakes to taste
Chopped cilantro

For the rice
½ tsp whole spices
2½ cups long aged basmati rice washed and soaked
1 chicken bouillon cube crumbled
Dash of salt
Lemons sliced thin
Orange food colouring
Chopped cilantro
¼ cup hot milk

How to:

  1. Mix together the ingredients for the marinade and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature 
  2. Fry the onions for until translucent then add the whole spices and continue to fry until the onions are golden brown 
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients except the cilantro and continue to fry on medium high heat, adding a little water every so often 
  4. When the gravy is a nice and rich deep red/maroon and has reduced, reduce the heat to low medium add the turkey and marinade into it, stirring
  5. Stir until it has mixed well and add in the cilantro 
  6. Cover and let simmer on low medium 
  7. Meanwhile boil the rice with the bouillon cube, dash of salt, and whole spices until the rice is almost tender but not fully (this is the trickiest part for people making biryani for the first time- just keep it on a low boil and make sure to remove from heat once ¾ cooked- test between your fingers) 
  8. Strain the rice
  9. Lower the temp to minimum, mix the gravy, taste for salt, and add the rice on top of the gravy (I usually use the oven for this step for regular biryani as that is the best method for layered biryani but for this I did it all in 1 pot. You can use the oven method of course)
  10. Add the lemon slices, food coloring, and chopped cilantro and cover properly so it steams well 
  11. After about half an hour, add in the hot milk and cover again for another 20 minutes or so on slightly higher temp (still low of course)
  12. Once the biryani is ready, mix it up and serve hot with condiments of your choice

ENJOY!

"Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon, or not at all"- Harriet Van Horne

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