Deep Fried Turkey with Kashmiri-Spiced Oil

Vivek Surti, of Tailor in Nashville, and Dave Wingo have spent the past decade preparing deep fried turkey together. It starts early, around 5:30 am, with bloody marys and a few well-seasoned birds. Over the years, Vivek’s curiosity has led him to play with different flavor profiles, from al pastor style to an Indonesian fried turkey to turkey yakitori. “That’s what makes it interesting from year to year,” he says.

While seasoning experimentation varies, Vivek always fries his bird. For this year’s variation, he says, “I wanted to keep it in the realm of India.” After seasoning heavily with salt, into the fryer it goes. He then bastes it with a Kashmiri chile oil, which goes on right before carving to give the crisped, red-tinged skin a peppery kick of flavor.