Chicken katsu curry recipe

Ingredients

For the chicken:

• 4 medium eggs
• 40g plain white flour
• 200g dried Panko breadcrumbs
• 260g skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Vegetable oil, for frying
• Salt

For the curry sauce:

• 40g unsalted butter
• ½ large onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 100g apple, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tsp curry powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 600ml chicken stock
• 200ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp honey
• 60g sugar snap peas, blanched and halved

Method

Somehow, curry is not what we immediately associate with the Japanese kitchen, and yet it’s very common there. It was introduced to the country in 1872, with the first Japanese curry powder appearing in shops in 1923, after which it took off like a rocket and became a household staple. Although we use chicken in this recipe, pork fillet is a good substitute.

1. Mix the eggs together in a bowl and set aside. Place the flour in a second bowl, then pour the Panko breadcrumbs into a third bowl. Coat the chicken by first dipping it in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs. Set aside.

2. To make the curry sauce, melt the butter in a frying pan. Add the onion and fry over a gentle heat until soft and golden. Add the garlic and apple and cook for a further 3 minutes.

3. Add the curry powder and the turmeric and stir through, then add the stock, coconut milk, honey and sugar snap peas. Bring to the boil and simmer for 8 minutes. Add a pinch of salt to taste and set aside.

4. Heat the vegetable oil in a heavy-based pan. Check the heat by dropping some breadcrumbs in – when they sizzle it’s ready for cooking. Add the chicken to the pan and fry over a medium heat for 8 minutes, turning over halfway through. Check the chicken is cooked by slicing each piece in half and making sure there are no pink juices. Place on a piece of kitchen towel and season with a little salt.

5. Serve with the warm curry sauce.

Our thanks to Waitrose Cookery School Love to Cook (Simon and Schuster, £25) for providing this recipe.