Monday Dinner: Curry

When people think of curry, they think of Indian curry or Southeast Asian curry like Thai curry. Did you know that there is "Japanese curry"? It's actually the second most favorite food of the Japanese (first is ramen). Every family has its own recipe/style for curry. I like to put chicken and also canned tomatoes.






Curry (for 4 people):
Curry blocs (1 package) - You can get this at any Asian store. One box comes with two packages and each package makes about 4-5 servings.
Chicken (4 small thighs) - I took off the skin and left the bones in to maximize the chicken flavor.
Potatoes (5 baby potatoes)
Onion (1/2 of large)
Carrot (1)
Canned diced/whole tomatoes (1 small)
Water (3-1/2 cups)
Salt
Pepper
Bay leaf
Olive oil (1 Tbsp)

1. Cut potatoes in half and put them in water.
2. Slice the onion. Peel the carrot and cut it about 1/4 inch thick.
3. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken.
4. Heat a pot with olive oil on medium high heat. Saute the chicken until both sides are golden brown. Take the pieces out and set aside.
5. Turn the heat down to medium and add onion slices. Saute the onion until they're caramelized and very tender.
6. Add carrots and mix well.
7. Put the chicken back in and add canned tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, crush them as you put them in. Add bay leaf.
8. Add water and turn the heat up to high.
9. Once it boils, add potatoes and turn the heat down to low medium.
10. Cook for about 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender.
11. Turn the heat OFF. Break the curry bloc into six pieces and add two pieces at a time. Keep stirring to make sure each piece is fully melted. Add all the curry bloc pieces. Once all the pieces are melted, turn the heat back on at low.
12. Keep cooking and stirring until the curry has desired consistency. I like kind of thick curry, but some people like really thin almost like soup curry.
13. Serve it over rice!

I cooked it on Sunday because it tastes even better after you let it sit for a day. When you heat it up though, it's pretty thick, so add some water and stir really well. I also served olive and asparagus salad with it.

I used chicken thigh, but you can use chicken breast, sausage, beef, lamb, or even just vegetables to make it vegetarian. They also have "seafood curry" in Japan, but I'm not a huge fan of it...

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