Chicken Katsu Curry

EDIT: This post has been rewritten for clarity and superior taste. I have also changed the photos as my photography skills have vastly improved since February 2015 (when this was originally posted)

Originally I made a healthy version of chicken katsu curry, baking the chicken with only a tiny spray of oil, but then I realised that sometimes only butter will do! Now, I pan fry the breadcrumbed chicken to get the golden colour and then bake in in the oven to make sure that it’s cooked through. It’s a great meal and really straightforward to make. For those who don’t like spice - this is as mild a curry as you can get, but no less flavourful for it.

This recipe is from Gigi Erskine and I found it somewhere online but as she doesn't seem to have a working website, I'm afraid I can't give you a link. Having made this recipe I think that it's pretty much perfect and have only made minor tweaks over the years. It's also much easier to make than many of the other recipes I looked at, which involved deep frying or marinating the chicken in buttermilk (a difficult enough ingredient to get your hands on at the best of times).

If you want a vegetarian curry then slice an aubergine or sweet potato into rounds and coat it the same way as the chicken before lightly browning it in oil in a hot frying pan before transferring them to the oven for 10-15 minutes to cook, you'll also need to switch the chicken stock to vegetable stock/water.

Chicken Katsu Curry Recipe

Serves 2

Oven at 180˚C

You can strain the sauce if you want to but by the point you're serving it the veg is so soft you won't notice it's there but you gain one of your five a day that you'd otherwise lose

If the chicken breasts are really thick put them between two pieces of clingfilm and bash them with a rolling pin to flatten them a bit

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

Seasoned flour

1 beaten egg

Breadcrumbs
Butter

1 small onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2tsp curry powder (mild or medium)
1tbsp plain flour

300ml chicken stock

1tsp honey

2tsp soy sauce

¼tsp garam masala

Cooked rice to serve

Method
Prepare the chicken: place the seasoned flour on a plate next to a bowl with the beaten egg and then a plate with breadcrumbs. Coat the chicken breasts first with the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs before placing them on another plate.
Melt a knob of butter in a large frying pan and lay the breaded chicken breasts in it. Once the breadcrumbs have turned lightly golden turn the chicken over and add more butter to ensure the breadcrumbs on both sides are the same golden brown colour.
Place on a baking tray and when the sauce is simmering, place the chicken in the oven and cook for 25 minutes.

Cook the rice.

Cut the onion and carrot into small dice and place in a hot lidded pan with a little bit of oil and the minced garlic. Gently sweat the veg with the lid on for 10 minutes, until they're nice and soft.

Add the curry powder and flour to the vegetables and then slowly pour in the stock, mixing all the time so it doesn't go lumpy.
Add the soy sauce and honey and bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes with the lid on, stirring occasionally. The sauce should reduce but not stick to the bottom and disappear - add a little water if you feel there's not enough liquid partway through.

You now have three options
1) leave the sauce as it is, you’ll have a lumpy sauce but it will still taste great, or
2) strain the sauce so that it is smooth with not vegetable bits in it, or
3) blend the sauce using a stick blender. This is my favourite method as you keep the healthy veg but lose the unsightly lumps.

Just before everything's ready, stir the garam masala and any seasoning through the sauce (this is where you have the option to strain it) and then dish up.
Try to use chopsticks if you can!