Turkey Stew
Turkey Stew is made from a mix of blended peppers and fresh turkey. It’s really no different from Meat Stew or even Chicken stew; the main difference here, would be the use of fresh turkey.
It takes about the same amount of time it would take to make any Nigerian stew, give or a take some minutes. If you’re a beginner in cooking Nigerian Food, it might be seem overly complicated, but it’s really not. I’ve broken it down into almost all the steps, so without further ado, let’s get into it, lotsa photos! (Did you forget I was going to be back with more Turkey recipes after the Turkey Wings?! Ha! :D)
To make Turkey Stew, here’s what you’ll need:
| Prep Time: 15 Mins | Cook Time: 2.5 Hrs | Difficulty: Intermediate | Serves: 4-6 |
- 14 s/m pieces fresh turkey
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 3 tbsps curry powder
- 2-3 knorr cubes (or 4-6 maggi cubes)
- 2 tbsps ground red pepper (powder)
- 1 m red bell pepper (tatashe)
- 1 m tomato
- 4-5 s habanero/scotch bonnet peppers (rodo) OR 3 medium
- 1 m red onion (or 2 small OR 1 large)
- 4-5 garlic cloves
- Ginger (size of garlic cloves)
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1/2 cup Palm Oil or Annatto Oil
- Water
1. Lightly rinse fresh turkey, drain & add to pot
2. Turn heat to medium, 2 tbsps curry powder & 2 knorr cubes OR 4 maggi cubes, and other spices
3. Add enough water to cover turkey, let boil for 1.5-2 hours over medium heat
4. While that’s boiling, cut up peppers 
5. Add to blender, along with 1-2 cups water
6. Blend till relatively smooth
7. In a separate pot, add oils and turn heat to medium; let get smoking hot
8. Add blended peppers to hot oil (be careful here!) & add 1 tbsp curry powder, let boil for 30-40 minutes over low-medium heat
9. Leave to boil, check on turkey; if soft enough, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
10. Using a slotted spoon, transfer boiled turkey to baking pan lined with foil then greased/oiled wax paper
11. Bake for 15-20 minutes till it turns darker in color
12. (Reserve turkey stock)
13. Blended peppers should be boiled at this point, add turkey stock to peppers (use low heat)
14. Add baked turkey to blended peppers; taste for seasonings, if not enough, add last knorr cube or 2 maggi cubes
15. Let simmer over low heat for another 5 minutes, then let rest 5-10 minutes before serving
And you’re done!
No, really, you are! Serve that baby up!
Notes:
- Turkey is a whole lot leaner than chicken or goat meat, so I bypassed my usual step of letting the meat ‘sweat.’ All that means is to let it ‘sweat’ out its own fat before adding any water to it for boiling. If you attempt to do this with turkey, more than likely, the bottom of the pot (and the turkey by extension), will start to burn. So, just add enough water as soon as you’ve added spices.
- Turkey Stock is not as ‘gamey’ or strong smelling/tasting as something like goat meat, so adding the stock to the blended peppers doesn’t affect the taste. Of course, you don’t have to use it if you don’t want to.
- You can use this same method to cook goat meat/beef or chicken. Just omit the goat meat/chicken stock and remember to let it sweat for a bit before adding water.
- If you prefer not to use Annatto Oil or Palm Oil, just use 1 cup Vegetable Oil. (Canola oil works fine as well, I was out of it is all.)
- Once the turkey is soft, you should have 1-2 cups of stock left over depending on how much water you added from the beginning. If you have more than 2 cups, just add 1 or 2 cups to the blended peppers, any more than that, will make the stew watery and that, you don’t want.
- Even though I left the turkey skin on, I didn’t eat it; it tastes lean, yet fatty, lol. It’s quite the textural experience. However, if the turkey is fried, I can eat that, but boiled or baked, no ma’am!
- If you’re in Nigeria and purchase the fresh turkey from the market, you might want to boil it for at least 2 hours to get it soft. Try slicing some fresh garlic into it while boiling, and that should get it softer quicker.
- To store, you can transfer to a bowl, refrigerate and heat/microwave only what you need or refrigerate in the pot and add a tiny bit of water when re-heating (over low heat.)
Serving Suggestions:
1. With White Rice…
2. With White Rice and Fried Plantains…
3. With White Rice and a Boiled Egg (what? you don’t eat rice & a boiled egg? pshhh! ;)
4. Or with some bread ;)
Enjoy…
Turkey Stew,
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40 Responses to "Turkey Stew"
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I like. I’m definitely going to be keeping an eye on this blog.
Hi Azuka!
Thank you! I appreciate your comment, very matter of fact! Hope to see you around more!
I’m so glad to find a blog that focuses on Nigerian cooking..with true, native recipes. Yay…… I’ll start linking to some of your recipes. Well done, from a proud Naija babe
Hi Kitchen Butterfly!
Aww, gosh, thanks so much for the kind words, I truly do appreciate it. Many, many thanks!! :) and that suya recipe, omg… loveee!!
Being a person that loves experimenting/trying new things when it comes to cooking I absolutely love and visit your site often, your pictures are so painfully clear (wasnt easy during fasting) and your steps are sooo easy to follow. I certainly will try out more than a few.
Tip: I never like eating plain white rice so what I do is I boil the rice with less water and more real meat/ chicken stock, the rice taste and looks all the more exciting depending on how well the stock is seasoned with added bits of meat/chicken that broke off when cooking. You’ve probably posted something similar and I will feel stupid when I go through your site and read something similar…please forgive.
Well done!!!
Hi Amina!
Aww, thank you so much for the compliments, you’re far too kind! Lol at the fasting part, I’m sure you made it through though! Hope you try and like when you do try the recipes. You know, that is a very good tip for those who fall in the same boat of not caring too much for plain white rice. I don’t mind it all, either way works for me, lol.
Oh no, no worries… I do have a similar post for the rice, but it’s just jazzing it up with knorr/maggi instead of salt and some ground pepper: http://www.avartsycooking.com/2009/10/another-way-of-cooking-simple-white-rice/
And um, your bags, my goodness, they are just beautiful, I LOVE the designs/patchwork especially the Patchwork Aduke and Claire bags! You need to open a location in the States (and elsewhere overseas) so we all can have access to all that goodness!!
OMG…your blog wasn’t updating in my feed. I actually just came to check up on you and saw all this new stuff..:( YAY! i love!!!!
Hey lady!
Where ya been?! It’s been a long minute, hope you’re doing great! Aww, thanks for checking up on me, how sweet! Not sure why the feed isn’t updating, I’ll check on it, so hopefully it works soon. Gosh, that lasagna looks sooo good, felt like poking a fork at my screen to get at it, lol
Glad you’re enjoying the new posts! Don’t be a stranger now ;)
thank you for this recipe turley stew came out ammmmmazing!!
Hi Toru!
Yay, glad it came out great!
Hope to see you around more! :)
Looks great! Makes me hungry just looking at it.
Thanks Carol!
Really lovely, thanks for these wonderful tips…ure d bomb!!!
Hi Tosan!
Aww, thank you! You’re very welcome :)
love ur blogs,,,, i do cook well also but i definately prefer your procedures, and i tell u that it gives me more taste…keep it uuupp!!!!
Hi Bolarinwa!
Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying the website :)
Hope to see you around more!
Hi,
In step 2, you said to turn heat to medium, and add spices. Am I browning the turkey here? Also, 1 cup of vegetable oil, that’s a lot of oil to use. Can I reduce the oil? Is this recipe very spicy and hot?
Sorry for silly questions. I’m new at cooking this style, but the photos looks so good!
Hey Cindy!
I wouldn’t say you’re browning the turkey as it is already quite lean and doesn’t have a lot of excess fat that could be removed. Plus, you’re adding quite a bit of water in the next step with not much time in between. While you’re getting ready to add the water, some pieces will inevitably brown, but that’s not the purpose. I hope that makes sense!
Nope, not a silly question at all! Thank you!! :)
ur blog is a blessing to me and im glad to find it. you are doing a great job here. God bless u
Hey Ada!
Oh my gosh, thanks so so much for the kind words, I highly appreciate it. Glad you found the site, if you have questions on any of the recipes, please don’t hesitate to ask!
This will go great with oxtails!!
It sure will ;) Are you going to make some?
Im thinking about making some tomorrow.
Let me know how it turns out!
I dont have palm oil only veggie. The african store is some traveling distance away.
You could probably use only vegetable oil, I’ve done that a few times and its been good too.
You should take one trip there with a list of groceries to last a good few weeks, so you won’t need to always go that distance.
hi,
I love your blog so much, its a really good one…..
I have a little question for this turkey stew; did you u use just one fresh tomato? I’m planning on making it this evening
Hey Mary!
Thank you! Yup, one medium fresh tomato is all you need, unless you’re making a larger quantity, then you could up to like two or so.
Hope you like it, let me know how it goes!
i love this blog,nice job
whats the naija word for spnach or rather the yoruba version of spinach
Hey Aramide!
Thank you! :) I know the general Yoruba term for vegetables is ‘efo,’ but I’m not too sure if Spinach has its own term.
I’ll ask around and update this comment if I learn anything else.
hey do you have to bake the turkey or can you just pour it in straight…..
Nope, you don’t have to bake the turkey, you can use it immediately after boiling.
Baking just makes it taste a bit better and look more appetizing in the stew.
Thank you so much. Crystal clear pictures and direction. i am telling people about this website
Hey Odun!
Thank you! yay! :))
great stuff Yetunde. I love your site! tried out the turkey stew but used chicken instead and it turned out great! my sister also loved it. thank you!
Hey Mercy!
Thank you! Nice, glad you both enjoyed it! :)
Hi, I am cooking Nigerian food for the first time soon. I was wondering if this recipe is considered very spicy. If so, is there any substitutes I could use to lessen the amount of spice? I love how nigerian food smells but the spiciness seems to scare me.
Hey Kara!
Really? That’s awesome! Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions if you run into issues along the way. If you’re hesitant to try the food because of the heat level, yes, this stew which has 4-5 scotch bonnet peppers will probably be too hot for you. Try using 1 scotch bonnet pepper and then the next time you make it, up it to two and see how you like it. It’s easier to add heat than it is to take it away.
Hope that helps!
I am South Affican and married to Nigerian Man,thank God fr this side, i will start preparing nice food for my husband.
Hey Jane!
Oooh weee! He’s about to be nicely surprised ;)
Let me know if you have questions on any of the recipes!