You know it’s a matter of pride when you get to develop a Thanksgiving Turkey recipe that you only dreamed about. So if you want to ‘wow’ your guests, consider this “Maharaja Turkey’ with @shadybrookfarms created by us. And as far recipe testing goes – we have tested this recipe four times in 2 different ovens.
As some of you know, my husband’s family used to host a large (with 50+ people!) Thanksgiving every year, and my mother-in-law always roasted two large birds. However, due to the global pandemic and her deteriorating health conditions – that party moved to one of the cousin’s homes. So we started hosting our thanksgiving in Boston with just us and a few friends from the building. Every year, I do an experiment recipe (like this!) and a staple recipe.
This Thanksgiving Turkey recipe is inspired by a Mughalian dish – Murgh Musallam. However, we have removed the complicated royal process and made this recipe Thanksgiving-friendly. Most ingredients are readily available at local Whole Foods, Trader Joe, or any grocery store near you.
This recipe starts with a Whole Turkey from @shadybrookfarms. As this is frozen, you can buy it before. Thaw it according to the package direction.
Then create your saffron compound butter with ingredients readily available at your local grocery. Now stuff the birds with aromatics (ginger, garlic, onion), nuts, fruits and cook with white wine, broth until golden (about 4-5 hours) or internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
Not only does it smell divine from saffron, fried onion, nuts, raisins but also it tastes ROYAL!
You can prepare the compound butter ahead and use it for other recipes – such as Chicken, Cornish Game Hen, Duck, etc. Like I mentioned above, I have made this recipe several times after developing and it’s A HUGE HIT here. Let talk recipe now.
Maharaja Turkey
Course: Holidays, ThanksgivingIngredients
- Compound Butter
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons fried onion, crushed
½ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon crushed saffron
- Stuffing
1 head of garlic, peeled into individual cloves
2-inch ginger, peeled and sliced into discs
1 tablespoon cashew
1 tablespoon raisin
½ lemon, pitted and sliced with skin on
- Turkey
20 pounds Turkey
Salt
Dry white wine, as needed
Directions
- Compound Butter
- In a bowl, mash together butter, crushed fried onion, herbs, spices.
- Spoon the butter onto a piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap, form into a log and wrap well. Chill for at least 3 hours before using.
- Turkey
- Remove any giblets from the cavity. Pat turkey and turkey neck dry with paper towel; rub turkey all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of turkey including the neck.
- Tuck in small cubes of butter underneath the skin gently.
- Put ginger, garlic, cashew, raisin, lemon inside the cavity. Add some butter cubes inside the cavity as well.
- Heat oven to 450 degrees. In the bottom of a large roasting pan, add the white wine and water to fill the pan to a 1/4-inch depth.
- Place turkey, breast side up, on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Cover breast with aluminum foil (check how Alton Brown does it). Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of a thigh reaches a temperature of 165 degrees, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours more.
- Transfer turkey to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes before carving.
- You can create an amazing gravy with pan drippings and aromatics. Pour off all pan drippings from the roasting pan and ginger, garlic, cashew, etc from the cavities, Set the pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Use a hand grinder if you need to.
- Increase heat to medium-high and add a little white wine, whisking as you go to let it reduce. Slowly add stock, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth. Cook, continuing to stir, until the gravy has thickened, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
