This year my son's birthday coincides with Thanksgiving!
So instead of going out for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm planning to cook a Thanksgiving dinner at home.
I'm not the best of cooks and I always search on the internet for recipes. I read at least 5 to 7 best rated recipes for the same dish. Then test it a couple times before the event.
This time I haven't got the time to do it yet, because these days (midst of pandemic and free time), all I do is watch DIY videos on YouTube.
I have something to share too, thus this post on how to smoke turkey under 5 mins!
As I mentioned I don't have much time, so below is a method very close to what I follow too.
“Dhungar” which is a quick way of smoking foods… popular in some regions of India.
This age-old method of smoking can be used both during and after the cooking process and imparts a wonderful unique smoky flavor to dals, meat, rice, raita and breads or whatever else you fancy smoking…
Infusing a final smoky flavor into the dish using this simple technique… really does make all the difference! If you have not tried this simple technique of smoking, I suggest you only smoke a small portion of your cooked dish first, taste… see if it’s a flavor that gets your own taste buds going!
Experiment with timings when infusing smoke into the food, taste is personal! I like applying this technique sparingly on food, not overpowering the main flavor of the dish, this way I can appreciate it more!
Use only natural lump charcoal for this method of smoking… do not use any fast lighting briquettes or any other charcoal that has chemicals added to it… trust me on this one!
The Dhungar Method of Smoking an already oven baked turkey.
You will need:
1 onion, peeled and the center hollowed out or a foil dish/bowl to hold the lighted charcoal
1 small piece (about 2 inches) of natural lump charcoal
1 teaspoon clarified butter or ghee which can also be mixed with some whole spices lightly ground, if desired
Place the piece of natural lump charcoal directly on top of a gas burner. With the heat on full, burn the charcoal directly over the flames, turning the charcoal around using long tongs, so the flames reach all sides of the charcoal.
Center the onion/foil dish in the saucepan or dish (a lid is needed) containing the food ready for smoking, make sure the onion/foil dish is not completely submerged in the food. Once the coal is ready use the tongs to transfer the hot coal into the center of the onion/ foil dish
Taking a quarter teaspoon of clarified butter or ghee (maybe mixed with some spices), drop this over the hot coal. The coal will immediately start emitting a dense white smoke, have the lid ready and quickly cover the saucepan or dish. This smoke trapped inside will infuse a unique smoky flavor into what ever food has been placed into the saucepan or dish. Usually I smoke the food for about a couple of minutes, depending on the recipe.
Afterwards carefully remove the onion/foil dish with the hot charcoal from the food, leave to cool before discarding!
Happy Thanksgivng! Hope you enjoy this!