Recipes

Katsu chicken curry

This healthy katsu curry is delicious served with brown rice. The sauce hides a mix of carrots, courgette, onion and apple, making it a great way to get some extra fibre in without realising it. You can make the sauce ahead of time and reheat for a quick mid-week meal.

Method

1. For the sauce: Start by preparing all the vegetables. Dice the onion, chop the carrot and courgette into small cubes, peel and chop the apple, peel and crush the garlic and peel and grate the ginger.
2. Add the olive oil to a large heavy-bottomed pan and put on a medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook for around 3 minutes until starting to soften. Next add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further 2 minutes.
3. Add the courgette and apple and cook for another 5 minutes before adding the turmeric and curry powder. Cook the mixture with the spices for another minute to release the aromas.
4. Add the flour and mix before adding the stock, honey and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 30 minutes with the lid off, or until all the vegetables are soft. While this is cooking, start on preparing your chicken.
5. Use a stick blender to blitz until smooth. Put the pan back on the heat and leave to reduce for 10 minutes into a thick, smooth sauce.
6. For the chicken: Preheat the oven to 200°C.
7. Make the breadcrumbs (you can skip this step and use pre-made wholewheat breadcrumbs if you can find them). Toast the bread and add to a food processor and blitz until breadcrumbs form, place in a shallow bowl and add the black pepper.
8. Crack and beat the egg into a shallow bowl.
9. Put each chicken breast into a plastic sandwich bag or clingfilm and use a rolling pin or meat tenderiser to make them thinner.
10. Remove the chicken from the clingfilm or bag, dip each breast into the beaten eggs and cover with the breadcrumbs. Place on a lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden and the chicken is cooked through.
11. Slice the chicken breasts into strips, pour the sauce over and top with chopped, fresh coriander and sliced spring onion. Serve with brown rice, wholewheat or brown rice noodles or with a crunchy salad and some traditional Japanese pickled vegetables.