Introduction: Japanese Curry Rice (From Scratch No Package Mix)

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Japanese curry is one of my absolute favourite things to cook because it is delicious and heart warming to eat! When I went to Japan to visit my friend in year 10 I loved this curry so much but all they had was the curry blocks full of MSG and always left an oily feeling in my mouth after I ate it. When I got back to Australia I had to recreate the flavours myself! I picked up some tips to use apples to sweeten the curry rather than sugar and to trim the beef to prevent extra oil. You can literally taste the love and care put into this meal.

This is a staple in my family home and I always make it when my friends gather around. I'm going to show you how to plan this as a full meal with steamed broccoli and rice and how to time each element accordingly.

This is my version of Japanese curry rice and I hope that you enjoy it as much as myself and my family does!

Step 1: Ingredients

Ingredients (serves about 6-8 people)

- 600g Chuck or Gravy beef (cubed and trimmed of fat. so maybe get an extra 100g because there will be abit of fat you need to trim)

- 3 Large potatoes

- 2-3 Large carrots

- 3 Large brown onions

- 5-6 Cups of beef stock (or 5-6 cups water and beef stock cubes)

- 1 Large sweet apple (I used pink lady)

- 1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh grated ginger

- 2 Cloves garlic

- Oil for cooking


For the curry roux sauce

- 130g Butter

- 1/3 Cup + 1 Tablespoon plain flour ( This is just a rough amount you could just use a heaped 1/3 cup of flour)

- 1 Tablespoon Garam Marsala *Start with this amount of spic and add more if needed*

- 1 Tablespoon Curry powder * Start with this amount of spice and add more if needed*

Extras

- 1 Head of broccoli ( you will need water to wash and steam the broccoli)

- 2 cups sushi rice (short grain)

- 2 3/4 cup water (to cook the rice, you will need more to wash the rice)

Step 2: Equipment

Equipment

- Chopping boards

- Cutting knife

- Vegetable peeler

- Vegetable grater

- Garlic press

- Spoons for stirring

- 1 Large frying pan

- 4 Saucepans/ Pots

-1 large for the curry

-1 large for the rice

-1 medium for the curry roux

-1 medium for the broccoli (can use the curry roux pot)

Step 3: Cut and Sautee the Onions

To make this a time efficient cooking process start with the onions but cutting them in half, removing the skin and slice them into half moon slices. Then in a large frying pan heat up some oil on a medium heat and cook the onions until they are nice and brown (caramelised), stirring occaisionally. This should take about 8 minutes.

Mean while prepare the rest of the vegetables, apple and beef.

Step 4: Peel and Chop the Vegetables/ Fruit and Cut the Beef

While the onions are cooking Trim the chuck steak of any excess fat and cut the beef into chunks to your desired size (mine are about 1.5cmx1.5cm cubes). Allow the beef to come to room temperature before cooking as it prevents the meat from going hard.

peel the potatoes and carrots and chop them into bite size pieces or big chunks depending on your preference, large chunks will take longer to cook.

Then peel the garlic and ginger and mince the garlic in a garlic press (or very finely chop with a knife) and grate the ginger (It is really important here to use FRESH ginger because it gives the curry amazing flavour!)

Then peel and grate the apple into coarse bits (I know that might sound weird but the apple disintegrates when it is cooked).

Alternatively you can prepare the vegetables before you start but I find multitasking in the kitchen saves so much time and you don't stand around while other things are cooking.

Step 5: Fill the Large Pot

Now that the onions are caramelised and the vegetables and apple are prepped place the onions, garlic, ginger, potatoes, carrot and apple into the large pot.

Add your beef stock to the pot and bring the vegetables up to a slow boil, this should take a few minutes. Then prepare to sear the beef chunks.

Step 6: Sautee the Beef

Wipe out the large pan that you caramelised the onions in and heat up some oil on medium high heat and brown the beef on each side for a few seconds to make it lovely and browned. Cook the beef in 2-3 batches to prevent the beef forming water in the pan. Then add the beef to the large pot and cover and allow it to simmer for 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile make the curry roux for the sauce.

Step 7: Make the Roux

The Roux will take about 10 minutes to cook so start it as soon as your curry starts to cook (the curry needs about 30-40mins). In a small saucepan place 130g of Butter and allow it to melt completely over a low heat. Then add about 1/3 Cup + 1 Tablespoon plain flour and increase the heat to medium heat and continuously stir for about 7-9 minutes until the light yellow roux turns a fox brown colour. At this point add 1 Tablespoon Garam Marsala and 1 Tablespoon Curry powder and stir for about 1 minute until it becomes aromatic. Start off with 1 tablespoon of each spice as this gives the curry a lovely flavour but it is not too spicy, you can add more of each to give it a bit of a kick.

Then add a ladle of beef stock (from the curry) and stir it until it turns into a smooth liquidy paste. (this may take a few ladles of stock). If you like your curry thinner then add extra stock but this would give you a nice thick curry. Then add this to the cooking curry and stir together and continue to cook the curry. Then with the remaining 15 minutes prepare the rice and broccoli.

Step 8: Make the Sides (Rice and Broccoli)

First wash your rice in a medium- large pot under cold rice 2-3 times until the water appears clear. This removes the starch from the rice, giving it a better texture. With about 10 minutes left of your curry cooking ( of when you want to serve your meal) prepare the rice by adding 2 3/4 cups cold water to 2 cups of washed short grain rice in the pot. Then slowly bring the rice up to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover it, allowing it to cook for about 10 minutes.

When the rice is cooked place a tea towel over the rice to absorb any extra moisture.

For the broccoli wash it under cold water then in a pot place the broccoli and about 2 cm of water and steam it, lid on on high for about 3-5 minutes depending how firm you like your vegetables. then drain any extra water and season it with salt.

Step 9: Plate Up the Dish

Once the curry, rice and broccoli is cooked plate up the dish by placing the rice on one side of the bowl, the curry on the other side of the bowl. Finally add the broccoli on top and serve to your loved ones! This serves about 6-8 people and keeps in the fridge for about a week.

This is a great recipe and it can easily be doubled to feed a large crowd and it is a healthier version of the pre packaged curry mix. I hope you like it as much as I do!

If you are feeding kids you can make fun shapes out of the rice like little penguins or fish or hearts.

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