Lolita's Turkey Curry

Lolita, my mother-in-law would often make this easy curry the day after Thanksgiving when her house was filled to bursting with her six adult children, their significant others, friends, and various children. I first joined them for the Thanksgiving weekend as a girlfriend of one of her sons, and over the years since that first holiday, I've watched and helped her make this curry many times. Making Lolita's curry with leftover turkey became a holiday tradition I wholeheartedly embraced. The past few years though, I have been terribly disappointed to find that all our leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat has been completely devoured as turkey sandwiches, well before dinner time of the day after (our heritage breed turkeys are much smaller than the commercial behemoths). Turkey sandwiches are all well and good, but I really like this curry! I'm a bit slow to think things through, but it occurred to me last week, that instead of lamenting the absence of this curry in my life forever, I could make it happen easy enough, AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR THANKSGIVING TURKEY LEFTOVERS! Lacking turkey in the freezer, I substituted some chicken breasts, which was every bit as good.



Lolita's Turkey Curry

Heat:
2-3 T. vegetable oil

Add:
1/2 chopped onion
5-6 mushrooms, sliced
1-2 T. curry powder
Saute until onions brown a bit.

Add:
1/3 c. flour
Cook 1-2 minutes.

Whisk in:
2 c. milk or soy milk
1 c. leftover gravy (or roasting pan drippings)
15 oz. can lite coconut milk
dash Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 t. salt, or to taste
Cook gently to thicken, 5 minutes or so.

Add:
2-4 c. chopped cooked turkey (or chicken)
1/4 - 1/3 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. minced fresh cilantro
(lacking fresh mushrooms to add with the onions, add a can of sliced mushrooms here)
Serve over hot, cooked rice with crushed red peppers and mango chutney.