A Katsu curry is a British army-influenced Japanese dish of a very mild curry sauce served with meat or fish fried in breadcrumbs. It’s not very curry-like and certainly not very Singapore-like, but our British Curry powder is the perfect way to make it yourself.
Use any mild curry powder if you must, but follow our recipe! Although we actually like it with a tin of tomatoes rather than water, which is not really correct! We have shallow-fried the chicken, which makes it healthier but still with that delicious crunch, although you can deep-fry it or use an air fryer. Serves 4-6
For the sauce:
1 carton British Curry Powder
2 tbsp oil
1 medium onion, 2 small carrots and 2 medium dessert apples, finely diced
400ml water
1 chicken stock cube (optional)
1-2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
For the chicken:
4 chicken breasts
2 eggs, beaten
4 tbsp panko breadcrumbs (or make your own: see below)
2 tbsp cornflour
seasoning (salt and pepper or try sichimi)
oil for shallow frying
Method:
Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large pan and gently fry the spices until fragrant.
Add the onion, cook for 5 minutes and then add the carrot and apple.
After about 15 minutes add the water and stock cube, bring to the boil and simmer until everything is soft. Give it a quick blitz if you want a smoother texture.
Add the soy sauce and honey to taste. If your sauce is looking very thick add a little more water.
Hammer the chicken breasts to a thickness of about 1cm and cut each into 3 pieces.
Place the egg in a bowl and the breadcrumbs and flour with a good pinch of seasoning in 2 more. Dip each piece of chicken in the flour, then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a large pan. When hot, add half the chicken pieces and cook for several minutes on each side. Check it is cooked through, then remove to a plate and keep warm whilst you cook the remaining chicken.
Serve the chicken with rice and the hot sauce on the side so it stays crisp.
Cook’s notes
For a vegan version use a little sugar instead of the honey to achieve the required sweetness. Then cut some sweet potato into 1cm thick slices and treat as you would the chicken. It cooks in about the same time.
To make your own breadcrumbs you will need some stale white bread. Soft rolls are perfect for this. Blitz in a food processor and then dry in a very low oven for half an hour. Keep in a plastic container.
You can try this with a tin of tomatoes instead of water - we actually prefer it!
(heat 2/10)
Here is the recipe for the curry you didn't know you had missed! The perfect army curry. Also great for mulligatawny soup, kedgeree or any of those other dishes where a hint of curry is required!
Serves: 4-6