Japanese chicken curry
If you prefer fillets over of bone-in chicken, make sure that you use a rich broth in which to cook the meat. If you want to substitute chicken breast, you will need to cook the carrot and potatoes in the broth before dropping in the chicken while the vegetables are half done. This ensures that the breast meat will not get dry from overcooking.
Ingredients
Curry roux
- ¼ cup butter
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon ketchup
- 1 teaspoon honey
For the stew
- 800 grams chicken thighs bone-in and skin-on
- salt
- pepper
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- 2 onions peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into two-inch cubes
- 2 potatoes peeled and cut into two-inch cubes
- 3 to 4 cups chicken bone broth
- 1 apple peeled and cored
Instructions
Make the curry roux
- In a sauce pan, melt the butter.
- Stir in the flour, all at once, until the mixture is smooth.
- Cook the roux over medium-low heat, with occasionally stirring, until lightly browned.
- Off the heat, stir in the curry powder, chili flakes, soy sauce and ketchup. Set aside.
Cook the stew
- Wipe the chicken thighs with paper towels.
- Using a heavy knife, chop each thigh through the bone into two portions.
- Toss the chicken thighs with a teaspoon of salt and half a teaspoon of pepper.
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or casserole.
- Over high heat, spread the chicken in hot oil and allow the undersides to sear for a few minutes. Flip and sear the opposite sides. Stir and continue cooking until the chicken is lightly browned on all sides.
- Scoop out the chicken and transfer to a plate.
- In the remaining oil (which now includes rendered fat from the chicken skin), soften the onion slices with a little salt and pepper over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and ginger. Sprinkle in a bit more salt and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring often, for a minute or two.
- Throw in the carrot cubes and cook with occasional stirring for a minute.
- Stir in the chicken.
- Pour in the broth. Bring to the boill, lower the heat and cover the pan. Cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the potato cubes. Cover the pan again and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until both the carrot and potato cubes are cooked through.
- Grate the apple dirctly into the pan and stir.
- Add the roux, a heaping tablespoonful at a time and stirring after each addition. When all of the roux has been added, simmer the chicken curry for another 10 minutes.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings, as needed.
- Scoop rice into shallow bowls and ladle the chicken curry around the rice.
Notes
Based on a recipe from Just One Cookbook