Japanese Style Chicken and Vegetable Curry

This Japanese style curry dish was made almost every week at my parent’s house. It’s because it can be very versatile. We can call it “Kitchen Sink Curry”, as we can use any protein or none, and any vegetables that looks good in a stew. Vegetable broth can be used instead of chicken broth. Cauliflower, squash, any root vegetable would be great in the dish, however, radishes, hum… not so good. The Japanese style curry is very different from the Indian or Thai one. You can buy the curry powder in most grocery stores. I like the S&B brand,  but there are many good brands and they differ somewhat in taste. For more details on Japanese curries, go to:

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/curry/a/aboutcurry.htm

Japanese Style Chicken and Vegetable Curry

6 servings

Ingredients

1 lb chicken breast, diced 3/4” cubes

2 medium potatoes, diced 3/4” cubes

2 small carrots, diced ½” pices

1 Japanese eggplant, diced 1/2” cubes

1 medium zucchini, diced 3/4” cubes

1 onion, diced or 1 cup pearl onions, peeled

3 cups warm chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 - 4 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

½ cup warm milk

3 tablespoons sour cream

Kosher salt to taste

Directions

In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon butter. Saute onion until softened. If using pearl onions, cook until they start to brown. Remove the onion from the pan with a slotted spoon, leaving as much butter as possible in the pan.

Add the chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook until seared on all sides. Add the potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the vegetables, including the onion, stir to sweat them and add the chicken broth.

Bring to a boil, and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, make a roux out of the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour: heat butter in a small pan, add flour and stir, cooking until the flour is mixed. Add 2 tablespoons of curry powder. If more spicyness is desired, add more curry powder and/or chili powder to the roux.

Slowly add ½ cup of warm milk to the roux and mix until totally blended. Add the curry and milk mix back to the chicken and vegetables, stirring to dissolve. Check the salt.

Simmer the curry for an additional  15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken and potatoes are cooked. Check the spiciness and if needed, add the remaining curry powder and mix through. There should be a lot of sauce. Add more broth if the curry is too dry.

Serve curry with white short grain rice and chopped boiled egg to garnish (optional).