I've been meaning to make Japanese curry from scratch for a really long time. My favorite Japanese curry is Golden Curry, but it has soooo much sodium. My husband is on a restricted diet and can only consume a limited amount of sodium so I haven't eaten Japanese curry in a while, and I was really craving it. Here is the recipe I used.
Curry Ingredients
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 large onions chopped
2 lbs chicken thighs cleaned and cut into chunks (you could pretty much use any protein - I used pork)
2 carrots cut into chunks
4 C water
2 large yukon gold potatoes cut into large chunks
1 small apple peeled cored and pureed
2 tsp kosher salt (use less if you use regular salt)
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 C peas
Roux Ingredients
3 Tbs butter
1/4 C flour
2 Tbs garam masala (or curry powder)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (add less if you want it mild or more if you want it spicy)
fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs tonkatsu sauce
For the Curry
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the
onions. Saute the onions until they are golden brown and caramelized
(about 30 minutes).
Turn up the heat to high, add the protein and brown.
Add
the carrots and water, then bring to a boil. Skim off any foam or
oil that accumulates at the surface.
Lower heat to medium and add
the potatoes.
Add pureed apple. I didn't have an
apple so I just added a teaspoon of brown sugar to add a touch of
sweetness. I also opted to omit the salt because of my husband's sodium restrictions.
Add garam masala.
For the Roux
For the roux, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add the flour and garam masala. Stir until you have a thick paste.
Add the cayenne pepper and some fresh ground black pepper and incorporate into the roux. Instead of black pepper, I added white pepper.
Add the ketchup and tonkatsu sauce and combine. Continue to cook until the paste starts crumbling.
Combining the Roux and the Curry
To make the curry, just laddle about 2 cups of liquid into the roux then
whisk until it’s smooth.
Pour this mixture back into the other pot and
gently stir until thickened.
Add the peas and heat through. I had no peas on hand so imagine that there are peas in the finished product below.
VOILA! Here is Japanese curry made from scratch. Serve over rice or noodles.
My Thoughts on the Recipe
My husband really liked this curry. I thought it was good, but I still like Golden Curry the best. I will definitely make it again, but I will probably tweak the recipe. The next time I make it I will probably use curry powder instead of garam masala. I will also use the pureed apple instead of brown sugar.
