Two-Day Adventure to Make an Inexpensive and Outstanding Curry

Two-Day Adventure to Make an Inexpensive and Outstanding Curry

Oct 22, 2022

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Thanks to two recipes, I was able to create the most delectable Japanese chicken curry! Over two days, I used a total of 19 ingredients, the highest number for all the dishes I’ve ever made!

Below are links to more details, including photos:

My Story
Inspiring Recipe
- First Try
- Second Try
Continuous Improvement
Lesson for Dumber Self
Next Step for You

My Story

One of my family members asked if a dish I had made before was curry, but it wasn’t. However, that question gave me an idea to search for a recipe for one.

Inspiring Recipe

I sorted through many curry recipes from around the world and landed on Bone-In Chicken Curry from Just One Cookbook. This website also had a recipe, How To Make Japanese Curry Roux, for this star ingredient. Making the roux from scratch allowed me to avoid the msg, artificial flavors, preservatives, etc. found in the curry sauce mixes sold in the stores.

First Try

After shopping at three places for many ingredients, including a couple of new ones for the kitchen cabinet (Japanese curry powder and mirin), I was ready to start the two-day endeavor.

Ingredients to Use

Using 3 3/4 pounds of chicken as the basis, I updated the measurements for the other ingredients as follows:

1 1/8 teaspoons of salt
1.9 pounds of onions
.86 pound of potatoes
0.53 pound of carrots
6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of green peas
4 tablespoons + 2/3 teaspoon of oil
1/2 cup of Chinese rice wine
4 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of water
8 ounces of Japanese curry roux*
2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon of mirin
2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce

* Japanese curry roux

8 tablespoons of butter
3.99 ounces of all-purpose flour
4 1/2 tablespoons + 1/8 teaspoon of Japanese curry powder
1 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon of garam masala
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

For most of the ingredients, I targeted to include the same ratio increase as the amount of chicken over the original recipe, but what I ended up with was sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less, based on the closest amount that I could measure out on the manual scale in the store and with my measuring tools at home. As for the chicken broth, I used a little less than the ratio, since I didn’t want to buy another box only to have some left over.

For for the pepper, I just ground enough across both sides of the chicken pieces according to my preference.

Lastly, I substituted the ingredients as follows:

Chicken drumsticks for chicken thighs
Sea salt for kosher salt
Rainbow pepper for black pepper
White potato for Yukon gold
Chinese rice wine (Shaohsing wine) for sake
Salted butter for unsalted butter

Japanese Curry Roux Ingredients

Garam masala, all-purpose flour, butter, Japanese curry powder, and cayenne pepper

Curry Ingredients

Chicken broth, salt, oil, shaohsing rice wine, soy sauce, mirin, potato, rainbow pepper, garlic, onion, carrot, green peas, and chicken

Steps to Prepare

I tried to follow the steps in the recipes, but there are areas that I deviated on as follows:

Japanese Curry Roux

When it came to browning the roux, I used a spoon instead of a blunt-end wooden spatula to combine the butter and flour together, since that’s what I had. Next, I stopped cooking the mixture after 20 minutes, even though it didn’t turn golden brown yet, because it was getting late.

As for making the curry roux, I ended up stirring the spices together for more than 30 seconds to get the mixture even.

Lastly, to shape the roux, I poured the concoction into an unlined glass container since I didn’t have any parchment paper. On the next day, I just broke the block with a butter knife and used everything, so I didn’t have to cut it into small squares for storage.

Curry

As part of the ingredient preparation, I minced the garlic with a knife before starting to snip the chicken with scissors instead of a knife in Step 1.

When it came to cooking the curry, I browned the first side of the chicken thighs for two minutes in Step 1. In Step 3, I coated the onion with the oil in the pot using a metal spoon instead of a wooden spoon/spatula. When I got to Step 12, I seasoned the curry with salt (1 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon + 1/8 teaspoon) after tasting it. Lastly in Step 13, I added the green peas, turned the stove to high heat because I was using frozen peas, and cooked the curry for another minute.

Japanese Curry Roux Photos

Melting butter in a pot — Melting butter

Butter and flour combined in a pot — Butter and flour combined

Cooked butter and flour in pot — Cooked butter and flour

Cooked butter and flour stirred with curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper in a pot — Cooked butter and flour stirred with curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper

Japanese curry roux in glass container — Japanese curry roux

Refrigerated Japanese curry roux in glass container — Refrigerated Japanese curry roux

Curry Photos

Chicken seasoned with salt and pepper in a stainless bowl — Chicken seasoned with salt and pepper

Peeled and cut potatoes and carrots in a bowl — Peeled and cut potatoes and carrots

Crushed garlic on a plate — Crushed garlic

Browning chicken in a pot — Browning chicken

Plate of browned chicken — Browned chicken

Sautéing onion and garlic in a pot — Sautéing onion and garlic

Pot of chicken simmering in chicken stock and water — Chicken simmering in chicken stock and water

Most of scum and foam skimmed from pot — Most of scum and foam skimmed

Carrots and potatoes added to the pot — Carrots and potatoes added

Carrots and potatoes softened in a pot — Carrots and potatoes softened

Japanese curry roux dissolved in pot — Japanese curry roux dissolved

Mirin, soy sauce, and salt mixed in the pot — Mirin, soy sauce, and salt mixed in

Pot of chicken curry done — Chicken curry done

Time to Eat

When the chicken curry was finally done, it was time to see if all the work was worthwhile.

Recipe Rating

Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:

# of Ingredients	Effort	$ / Serving	Try Again?
19 *

* including water

The curry sauce had a good consistency, the vegetables and chicken were tender, and everything was flavorful. My husband thought this recipe was up there with the baked chicken wings that I made a few months ago!

Second Try

For the second try, my goal was to tweak the process, so hopefully I would end up with a golden brown color in the cooked roux, browned chicken, and sautéed onions. In addition, I wanted more vegetables in the curry.