I think the first time I had katsu curry was at Wagamama and it was so so good. The sauce is delicious and I love the crunch of the katsu veg - I think they did a mix of sweet potato and aubergine, both work fantastically well. I find aubergine a little easier to do at home as it cooks more quickly. If using sweet potatoes, I'd fry them off and then bake in the oven until they're soft in the middle. It's a little extra time but worth it. This time though I was doing chicken for J and veg for myself, so I didn't want to overcomplicate things.
I was surprised at how straightforward the sauce was when I researched this recipe. With the flavours of it I expected it to have more elements than it does! Good thing really, as it makes the katsu part feel like less of an effort!
Ingredients
For the sauce:
1 large red onion, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
thumb-sized piece of ginger, chopped or grated
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
400ml can coconut milk
2 tsp honey
For the katsu:
1 tbsp cornflour
200g breadcrumbs
2 large chicken breast, thinly sliced
or
1 large aubergine, thinly sliced
Method
1. For the curry sauce, fry the chopped onion until soft then add the carrots, garlic and ginger and fry for another couple of minutes. Add the turmeric and curry powder and stir to coat. Pour in the coconut milk, honey and 100ml of water. Season to taste, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. To make the katsu mix the cornflour with 4 tbsp of water and seasoning. Coat the chicken or aubergine with this mixture, then thoroughly coat with breadcrumbs. Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry the chicken / aubergine for 4-5 minutes on each side until cooked through and crispy on the outside.
3. When the carrots in the sauce are soft use a stick blender to puree the sauce until smooth. If it's too thick, add a little extra water. Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
4. Serve the chicken / aubergine with rice and a generous ladleful of curry sauce.
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