Slow Cooker Katsu Curry Chicken

A promoted ad for the BBC Good Food website's recipe for Easy Katsu Curry Chicken has inspired me to make a slow cooker katsu curry. 

Yes I know one, if not the main, feature of Katsu Chicken is the crispy breadcrumbed finish.  But as we've never had this before who's to know!

It is still blipping away in the slow cooker, and whilst the carrots and onions look quite presentable in the sauce, I probably will puree the sauce and thicken it with cornflour in a small saucepan before serving to avoid all evidence of vegetables.

This has a very mild curry flavour, and in fact reminds me of the curry sauce they serve in a chip shop!

Serves a hearty 4
8 chicken thighs

Sauce ingredients (from Gizzi Erskine's recipe for Chicken Katsu Curry in The Independent)
1 tablespoon groundnut or vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon medium curry powder
600ml chicken stock
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2tsp garam masala
2 tsp cornflour

Turn on your slow cooker to heat up.  Brown the chicken thighs in a large frying pan.  Once browned, place the chicken in the slow cooker and fry the onion, carrot and garlic for a few minutes.  Add the curry powder & garam masala, stir once more to warm the spices, then scrape everything into the slow cooker and rinse the pan out with the boiling hot stock (or boiling water, adding the crumbled stock cube).  I added the honey and soy sauce here, but eating it 6 hours later I'm now thinking it would be best adding this right at the end before serving.

Cook for High for 4+ hours.  When just about ready to eat, remove the chicken thighs to a warmed bowl and transfer the liquid and stewed vegetables to a saucepan.  Remove the bay leaf and liquidise with a stick blender.  Mix the cornflour with about 1 tbsp water to a single cream consistency and add to the sauce it begins to simmer, stirring until it thickens.  Add the soy sauce and honey if you haven't already and check for seasoning.

Serve over rice.

March 2017: I have now added an Easy Chicken Nugget Katsu Curry recipe.
September 2018: And Breaded Turkey Katsu Curry

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