If you've ever had Japanese Curry, you'll know how comforting and satisfying it is to eat it with white rice! Japanese Curry is different from other types of curry. The curry sauce is typically not as spicy and tends to be a bit sweeter & thicker. We grew up eating Japanese curry using store bought "Golden Curry" curry sauce mix. The mix consists of pre-made roux cubes that creates the curry sauce by adding water. This way is perfect for people with busy lives.
We didn't have the curry roux blocks so we made our own! If you have the ingredients, it's actually really easy & simple to make. In our opinion, homemade roux is great because it's much healthier with lower sodium and no preservatives.
We decided to pair our Japanese curry with Chicken Katsu (crispy Panko crusted chicken) and Mr. Chicky rice ball. We air fried our chicken but with this recipe, you can deep fry it.
Ingredients
Servings: 4
For the Chicken
1.5 lb Chicken breast
salt + pepper
1/2 cup Potato starch
1 large egg, whisked
2 cups Panko (Japanese flaky bread crumbs) - we used Shirakiku brand
Avocado oil, for air fryer
For the Curry
2 large carrots, oblique cut
2 large potatoes, large cubes
1 large yellow onion, quartered
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 small Apple, grated
1 Tbsp Honey
3 cups Chicken broth or water
1 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Tbsp Curry powder
For the Roux
4 Tbsp butter
4 Tbsp All-purpose Flour
1 Tbsp Curry powder
1 teaspoon Garam Masala
1 teaspoon Chili powder (optional for spice level)
Instructions
Prepare Chicken:
We bought a package of chicken breast with 3 small pieces. Typically if it's just 1 large breast, first slice it in 1/2 so it's not too thick (now you have 2 pieces to make katsu). Since ours is small, we placed cling wrap over it and used a baking rolling pin to pound it (do the same for the large breasts). This tenderizes the meat and also flattens it to cook more evenly.
Season the chicken breast with salt & pepper. Marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Set up 4 separate plates for breading: 1) Flour 2) Whisked eggs 3) Panko 4) Empty plate for coated chicken
Dip chicken into the flour, then the eggs, then dredge it into the panko. Press the breading into it until fully coated. Place coated chicken on a plate and continue breading the remaining chicken. Let sit and cook later. During this time you can make rice according to package instructions.
Make the Roux:
In a small pot, melt butter on medium-low heat.
Add flour and stir often to mix and prevent burning ~ about 5-10 mins or until desired brown color.
Once browned, add curry powder, garam masala, chili powder and mix for half a minute. Turn off fire and set aside.
Time to make curry: In a large skillet on medium-high heat, cook garlic until fragrant (don't let it burn). Add onions and cook until soft then add potatoes & carrot. Pour in chicken broth or water and let boil.
Pour the Roux into the skillet. Add honey & grated apple then stir to mix well. Turn fire to medium-low heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Allow the sauce to thicken - if you don't like it too watery (combine 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch + 1 Tbsp water mixture).
Meanwhile, preheat air fryer at 350F for 3 min. Spray avocado oil on both sides of panko chicken. Place the chicken in the basket without overlapping. Air fry at 350F for 10 mins. Half way through, open basket and flip chicken over - continue to cook. Turn the settings up to 400F and air fry for 3-5 mins. The chicken is done when internal temp reaches 165F.
Place rice on a plate, place chicken katsu on top of it, and pair with curry sauce. Enjoy!
Notes:
You may have to play around with your air fryer settings depending on the size of the chicken. We used the Ninja Max XL air fryer.
We usually air fry our meats at lower temp to cook the meat and then raise the temperature for a couple minutes to make it crispy. This makes the chicken breast juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside!
Curious about the Mr. Chicky rice ball? Just add a little bit of vinegar & sugar to your rice to create "sushi rice" so it's sticky & easier to mold. Cling wrap the rice and mold it into a ball. Use toothpicks to hold the corn for lips and red bell pepper for chicken comb. Cut seaweed for eyeballs. Have fun!
If you make this recipe, we'd love to see it! Tag us at @NY.Foodie on your stories & posts.