Chicken Katsu Curry
Eating out can be tough when you are trying to keep your sugar intake low. Now, don’t get me wrong, since we don’t eat out that often, we generally don’t get too worried about a little sugar in our meal – after all, it’s a treat.
But sometimes I crave a restaurant or takeout night, but I want to keep the excess sugar out of it, and I know I cannot really afford it. That’s when recipes like these come in really handy. Quick, easy, no-faff, cheap as chips, sugar free, and every bit as delicious.
Chicken katsu curry is quickly becoming a favourite ‘fakeaway’ for me. The curry sauce is an easy one that is packed full of flavour, and is definitely worth making a triple or even quadruple batch and freeze in portions to pour over or dip, well, anything!
And although the chicken is pretty yummy in this (and faff free as well as gluten and egg free), if you get bored of it, try slicing sweet potato and par-boiling for a few mins before draining, patting dry, rubbing with olive oil and pressing into the ground almonds instead of the chicken). You can bake them like the chicken or shallow fry them in a little coconut oil and serve in place of the chicken for a veggie version of this curry. Sliced aubergine or courgette works, too! And I imagine tempeh slices would be worth a try.
You can also mix up the sides by swapping the cucumber & carrot salad for steamed greens or green beans, and you can always swap the Basmati rice for cauliflower rice for a low carb option, or use cooked quinoa if you prefer.
These swaps not only keep the dinner interesting and new, but they also make it easy to make this curry with whatever you have on hand, making it a simple eat-from-the-pantry style supper.
And it helps that you save yourself quite a bit of money in the process!
A quick, easy, affordable and super tasty homemade version of chicken katsu curry. No faffing around with 3 bowls of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs for the chicken, and a curry sauce that is too delicious not to make a triple batch to keep on hand for emergency dinners! Gluten free and low carb with veggie/vegan and Paleo options.
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 carrots, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1 tablespoon rice syrup or 1-2 drops stevia
- 1 tablespoon tamari (use coconut aminos for Paleo)
- 500 ml stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon coconut flour (or use 1-2 tablespoons of plain flour or cornflour/cornstarch)
- 2 large free-range chicken breasts (or 4 small)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- large handful of ground almonds (or Panko breadcrumbs)
- 1 small cucumber, finely sliced
- 1 small carrot, finely sliced
- juice of 1/2 lime
- 1 teaspoon tamari
- handful roughly chopped coriander leaves
- cooked Basmati rice (or use cauli-rice or cooked quinoa)
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For the sauce: gently fry the onion and carrots in coconut or olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) over medium heat until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 1 more minute, then add all of the other ingredients except the coconut flour. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 25-30 mins, until everything is soft. Whisk in the coconut flour and simmer for another 1-2 minutes until thickened, then take off the heat and blitz with a hand blender or in a food processor until smooth.
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While the sauce is simmering, preheat the oven to 220C/425F/gas 7. Brush the chicken breasts with the olive oil and roll in the ground almonds, pressing the chicken into them so they coat it. Bake in the oven for 20 mins, or until the almond coating is golden and the chicken is cooked through (a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast should read 75C/170F.
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Slice the chicken and serve over the cooked rice alongside a salad made by mixing all the remaining ingredients. Pour the curry sauce over the chicken (be generous). Serve straightaway.
