I probably love curry as much as these guys:
This is the curry I grew up eating. Technically, this is a Japanese curry. It's sweeter than say an Indian curry, but not as sweet as coconut milk based curry. I can't think of anything else I loved to eat more than curry (well, there was that pork and beans phase I went through, but we won't talk about that now). Growing up, I had braces and whenever I ate curry, it turned the bands on my braces bright green....I still ate it anyways. Of course nowadays, kids can choose different color bands. When I was a brace face, it was just light blue/grey bands. Eating curry was worth the humiliation of neon green bands.
My dad HATED curry. So we never got to eat it as much as I would have liked. And for some reason, my mom always made it on the hottest days. So imagine us sitting around the kitchen table, sweating our butts off, noses running and shoveling curry into our mouths. Yeah. Good times. That's great picture, huh?
Back to the curry. This is the quick version. You can also do a beef curry and just stew the meat for a few hours before adding the veggies and curry paste or you can boil raw chicken breasts. Sometimes, I take the time to do beef curry and I like all ways, but sometimes you don't have 2 hours to cook down beef.
And away we go!
Have you ever seen these in the store and wondered how the heck to use them?
These are curry blocks and they are the base for your curry! Make sure you're buying sauce mix and not sauce which is a ready made curry in pouches. S&B makes both kinds. Trust me. The instant pouches are AWFUL. S&B also makes a powdered curry, but that's an entirely different method. My mom told me when she and my dad first got married, she used to have to saute the powder in butter to make the base and it took forever. And if you messed up, it came out lumpy and gross.
This is a 8.4 oz size. Usually you can only find this size in a Korean or Asian Market. Ralph's has a smaller size, but try to buy at an Asian market, if you can. Here's why...the large double block size at Korean markets is $2.50 (usually 3.50, but they ALWAYS go on sale). The smaller half size you find at Ralph's goes for easily $5-6 bucks. Total rip off, righ!?
There are 3 levels of spice. The green is mild, the black is hot, and the red is extra hot. I like the black and red. They are all good.
Grab these veggies:
For this batch, I used 2 medium potatoes, 1 medium onion and half a small bag of baby carrots.
Other people use cauliflower or broccoli. Even radishes, if you wanted them, work here. I've seen some people even use tofu. You can literally use as much or as little veggies as you want. I do a super thick, stew like version. My mom's is more watery and has way less veggies. When you go to places like Hurry Curry, the curry there is not a packed with "stuff". To each their own.
In a 3 quart pot, I bring 4 cups of chicken broth to a simmer. I used homemade chicken broth that I made from a Costco Rotisserie chicken, but you can use canned. You can even use water if you want to. I use chicken stock, because I think it makes my curry richer. Here's the recipe for chicken broth using Costco chicken if you're interested in trying to make your own. Click here.
I add chopped garlic to my broth. My mom doesn't. I just like garlic. I like the way it tastes and I think its good for you. But, hey. That's just me. You can skip this if you want to.
I chopped my potatoes, onions and carrots and added it to the boiling stock. If you ask my mom, she'd say to cut your potatoes a good size so they don't all melt down. But since this is the quick version, I say make 'em bite sized.
Let this simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. This took less than 10 minutes on medium low. It depends on how large your potatoes were cut so cooking times will vary.
I also add in shredded Rotisserie chicken. As much or as little as you want. I should mention you can not add any meat to keep it vegetarian. You can use veggie stock or water instead of chicken stock.
At this point, I'm a little low on liquid so I added a cup of water. That's okay. It all works. Try not to add too much water unless you need to. If you make it to watery, then you curry won't be thick. Of course, if that happens, you can always add a little cornstarch at the very end. No bigs.
Now it's time to add your curry block! If you got the large sized block, you'll open it to find 2 curry blocks.
They are foil sealed. You peel them open like this:
Tada! Insta curry smell!
If you flip it over, it looks like this. Guess what? If you're making a smaller batch, you an cut up the block and just store the left over blocks in a zip lock bag. We're using the entire half block for this recipe.
Drop your curry block into your pot.
Make sure the heat is on low/simmer and start melting the block in your soup.
Like this:
It starts to look like this. Make sure you melt the block and there are no lingering clumps. Because if you don't, whomever bites into that clump will be reallllllllllly bummed out.
Simmer just a bit longer.
Done!
Serve over rice. My mom used to serve on a dinner plate. She'd make a rice "bowl" and scoop the curry in the middle. The Indian eats his curry out of a large serving bowl. It literally is called "the curry bowl" in my house. Shrug. This recipe feeds 4-6 people. Or one Indian.
You can also serve over tofu if you want to cut the carbs.
I LOVE to eat this curry with kimchi or even dill pickles. There's something about the salty, sweet curry balanced with vinegary pickles or kimchi.
I should also mention that my dad likes curry now.
Try making a beef curry if you can. Beef curry rocks!
