Chicken Katsu Curry

Serves 2
Oven at 180˚C
prep time 20 mins
cook time 30 mins

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts
Seasoned flour on a plate
1 beaten egg
Breadcrumbs
Butter
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2tsp medium curry powder
1tbsp plain flour
300ml chicken stock
1tsp honey
1tbsp soy sauce
¼tsp garam masala
Cooked rice to serve

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.

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. Fry them in butter for a few minutes on each side, adding more butter as necessary. Place on an oven tray and put in the oven as you start simmering the sauce.

Gently sweat the diced onion and carrot in a pan with some oil and the lid on for 10 minutes, until 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. Stir the garam masala and any seasoning you would like through the sauce.

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

Serve the chicken and curry sauce with rice. Try to use chopsticks if you can!