Thanksgiving Roasted Turkey(For a small family) -Kerala style recipe /Turkey recipe

Thanksgiving is a celebration time and it is the turkey that gets to regally occupy the center of the dinner table all glistened up .Everyone is sure to give it at least one good look before the carving takes place .

One year I got to do the honor of turkey carving  at our friend's place as she wanted me to..and I must say I enjoyed carving into the juicy meat that was made by slow roasting in the oven at 160 F for 16 hrs, basting it every 30 minutes. Ya..we all did it by taking turns.

Last year my husband decided to make a thanksgiving dinner all by himself just for us.Now u guys!,please allow me to brag about it :) because I thought it was the kindest gesture a man could do for the lady of the house !!Don't u think it is fun to laze on the couch while the man toils in the kitchen and  the lady occasionally thinking what's he going to make...O.K.....o.k let me admit I was really really impatient to see the outcome would be, though I looked l was glued to the T.V :)....

What amazed me the most is he did not have any recipe written down nor any  bits or paper like I use:) not even any sign of panic !! :) He decided to go for turkey breast instead of a whole turkey .Commonn... guys it is a large bird and you need a lot of mouths to chew down a whole bird :)).

Unlike chicken turkey needs a lot of time to thaw so move it from the freezer to fridge at least two days in advance .It is slightly dry and chewy meat so it really needs to be marinated well and slow cooked for infusing all flavors.Turkey is very reluctant to take in any flavors so slow cooking in lot of moisture and juiciness does the trick.

Ingredients

Turkey- Breast piece,boneless

Ginger garlic paste- 2 tsp

Chili powder-2 tsp

Coriander powder -3 tsp

Pepper powder - 1tsp

Eastern chicken masala - 2 tsp
Garam masala- 1 tsp

Olive oil- a few tsps
Yogurt- 2 tbsp

salt to taste

For the bed

Potato -2 cut into large pieces

Carrot -2 cut into large pieces

Onion -1 cut into lage pieces

Celery -1/2 stick

Direction

1.Thaw the turkey ,wash and clean well. Cut it into thin slices (too thin will fall apart while cooking)

Marinate all the ingredients given above and leave it overnight in the fridge.

2.Take the turkey our of the fridge and let it come to room temperature before u put it in the oven.

3.On the baking tray spread the bed with vegs given above and pour half a glass of water and lay the turkey slices on top of the bed.So that the meat won't burn and the vegs will cook evenly from the drippings.

4.Preheat oven to 300 F and roast the turkey for around 3 hrs keep basting with a thin coat of the masala (remaining from the marination) till all of it is used every twenty minutes .Do turn the meat once or twice for even cooking.If u feel the meat is drying out fast then reduce heat .Cover the top with aluminium foil and continue till it is cooked.

5.Remove from oven when cooked .Keep the meat pieces separately .Give it a thin coat of butter if u like.

6.In a blender put all the vegs put for the bed along with any juice on the baking tray give it a good spin and u have ur  gravy ready to be poured over turkey while serving.U could add cream or white sauce and boil it for two minutes for a thick creamy sauce. but he did not add any creaming .

Note

Basting  is important otherwise the meat will dry out. Use a brush to do basting as it will coat the meat evenly.
The spices are approximate so use ur discretion to adjust it accordingly.We have spiced it up so much because otherwise the turkey tastes bland.

Don't you want to know what finally came to the dinner table!!! See below... 

Lets go clock wise from turkey roast,cranberry sauce,sausage bean and potato stuffing ,Dinner rolls(from ready to bake pack) and Baked Artichoke ,spinach & cheese dip.To me this was quite a spread.
I hope he reads the next line.
"Please make it a tradition to make thanksgiving dinner every year :)"


 Click here for  Cranberry sauce recipe

Do share ur thanksgiving stories and memories with me.Hope to hear from you guys soon.

Meena