Japanese Curry Rice (Kare Raisu)
Velvety mild curry, chicken, potato, carrot and rice.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
Grated apple is the secret - it melts into the broth as it simmers and gives Japanese curry that distinctive sweet-rounded backbone you can't get from sugar.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 1½ lbchicken thighscut into 1.5-inch chunks
- 2 mediumyellow oniondiced
- 3 mediumcarrotspeeled, cut into 1-inch chunks
- 2 largeyukon gold potatoespeeled, cut into 1.5-inch chunks
- 3garlic clovesgrated
- 1 tbspfresh gingergrated
- ½ cupgrated appleFuji or Honeycrisp, grated on box grater
- 3 tbspall-purpose flour
- 2 tbspcurry powder
- 1 tspgaram masala
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 2 tbspsoy sauce
- 1 tbspWorcestershire sauce
- 4 cupslow-sodium chicken broth
- 2 tbspneutral oil
- 1 tbspbutteroptional, finishing
- 2¼ cupswhite ricerinsed
- 1 tspkosher salt
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 540calories
- 28gprotein
- 72gcarbs
- 16gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Start rice (2.25 cups rice and 3 cups water - bigger batch since we're feeding 6).
- Cube chicken, dice onion, chunk carrots and potatoes.
- Grate garlic, ginger, apple.
Sear chicken
Heat oil in dutch oven over medium-high. Season chicken with salt. Sear 3 min/side until golden - doesn't need to be cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
6 min · hands onSoften aromatics
Add remaining oil. Drop in onions, cook 6-8 min until golden - don't rush this, the sweetness is the backbone. Stir in garlic, ginger, grated apple; cook 1 min more.
8 min · hands onRoux and spices
Stir in flour and curry powder and garam masala. Toast 1 min - the spices should smell deep and toasty. Stir in tomato paste, soy, Worcestershire.
2 min · hands onSimmer
Whisk in low-sodium chicken broth slowly to avoid lumps. Return chicken and add carrots and potatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover, cook 25 min until potatoes pierce easily with a fork. Uncover the last 5 min so it thickens.
25 min · hands offFinish and serve
Off heat, stir in butter for gloss (optional). Taste - adjust salt. Spoon rice on half each plate, ladle curry over the other half.
2 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Beef chuck wants 90 min simmer instead of 25 - sear it first too. Adds about 60 minutes.
Cube and sear tofu, add only in the last 10 min - don't break it down. Saves about 15 minutes.
Start brown rice ~40 min ahead. Adds about 20 minutes.
Skip the butter - flavor still lands.
What keeps
Japanese curry is BETTER day 2 - that's a cultural truism, not just convenient marketing. Keeps 4 days, freezes 2 months.
Cook a big pot, eat all week.
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