Page Contents: Recipe | Serving Suggestions
Japanese curry has a roux-based sauce which means it’s thickened by some sort of starch. It’s a staple meal in many parts of Japan and is mainly served with rice, though it can also be served with noodles. The curry can include meat and vegetables like carrots and potatoes; where the meat can be cooked in the sauce like a stew, or it can be breaded and deep fried (known as katsu curry). You can find Japanese curry anywhere from the canteens on the ski hills, specialist fast food joints and even Tokyo Disneyland.
At home, the curry sauce is often made from a packet that looks similar to a solid bar of chocolate. This bar melts with the addition of water or a stock and as the curry cooks, it creates a thick sauce. It works in a pinch, but if you have the time, a homemade curry will typically contain ingredients that are better for you.
Traditional Japanese curry is usually a little spicy, but it’s tempered by a sweetness that comes from adding an apple, rather than sugar. In this recipe, I let the Thermomix do all the work of cooking and stirring. It’s also suited to completing many of the other steps in the recipe – like making the roux and puréeing the apple.
My curry sauce wasn’t as smooth as it should be (but still tasted fantastic), so I’ve labelled this version 1 and I’ll adjust the recipe some time soon.
[Version 2 can now be found here!]
Japanese Chicken Curry (Version 1)
Ingredients
Roux
- 60 g vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp self-raising flour
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- pinch ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Curry
- 1 apple peeled, deseeded and quartered
- 2 large onions peeled and quartered
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 20 g vegetable oil
- 600 g chicken thighs cut into 3cm pieces
- 2 carrots peeled and cut on the diagonal into 2cm pieces
- 350 g sweet potato peeled and cut into 3cm pieces
- 500 g water (approx)
- 2 tbsp Thermomix vegetable stock concentrate
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 500 g cauliflower florets
Instructions
- Prepare the roux by adding oil and flour into the Thermomix bowl and cook with the measuring cup (MC) off for 5 minutes | 100C | Speed 2
- Add curry powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce and cook with the MC off for 2 minutes | 100C | Speed 1; remove to a medium heatproof bowl
- Put apple in the Thermomix bowl and purée for 5 seconds | Speed 8; scrape down the sides and purée for another 5 seconds | Speed 3; remove to a small bowl
- Add onion, garlic and ginger into the Thermomix bowl and chop for 5 seconds | Speed 5
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add oil and cook with the MC off for 5 minutes | Varoma | Speed 2
- Add chicken to the bowl and cook with the MC off for 5 minutes | Varoma | Reverse | Speed soft
- Add apple, carrots, sweet potato, stock concentrate and garam masala to the bowl, add water up to the 2L mark and cook with the MC half off for 15 minutes | 100C | Reverse | Speed soft
- Use a plastic ladle to spoon out approximately 2 cups of the liquid into the bowl with the roux and stir to combine
- Add roux mixture into the Thermomix bowl; put cauliflower into Varoma bowl, assemble and cook for 15 minutes | Varoma | Reverse | Speed soft
- Remove the Varoma and cook the curry with the MC half off for 5 minutes | 100C | Reverse | Speed soft
- Carefully stir the cauliflower into the curry
Notes
- When making the roux, put the ingredients around the blades and avoid the centre of the bowl so that they can mix together properly.
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Serving Suggestions
1. Serve with steamed rice or noodles (soba, udon or ramen)
[Last updated: September 1, 2013]
