HOMEMADE GOLDEN CURRY

While I was growing up, my mother used to make curry on a somewhat regular basis. She made a full pot and my brother and I would be eating leftover curry for like a week.  Curry was one of the few things that I did not mind for leftovers.  When I got older and tried other people's curry, I wondered why it never tasted like my mother's.  Hers was thick and somewhat sweet and had a distinctive, strong curry taste - I loved it.  I later discovered that my mother used Golden Curry roux blocks from S&B.  That stuff is the SHIT!

I was fully aware of the amount of MSG and whatever other chemicals these curry blocks contained, but I did not care.  They were so frikkin' good.  Out of curiosity, I googled to see if there was a way I could make them myself.  Lo and behold, there was!

http://justonecookbook.com/blog/how-to/how-to-make-curry-roux/

Along with the recipe for the curry roux, there was a link on a simple curry recipe using the blocks.

http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/simple-chicken-curry/

I was actually anxious for the weekend to come so I could try them out.

Curry Roux (for 4 cups of curry)
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper for heat

Directions
1) Melt butter over medium low heat.
2) Add flour and stir to combine.  Keep stirring to prevent roux from burning.
3) After 20-30 minutes, the roux will turn into a light brown color.  Add curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper.
4) Cook and stir for 30 seconds and remove from heat.

looks like burnt brown sugar

I will confess that I did not cook this thing for 20-30 minutes.  That honestly just seemed ridiculous to me.  When I looked in the comments section, someone asked if that time was correct.  The recipe author said that it was, but mentioned that it should take some time to brown.  My shit browned pretty quickly, so I wasn't sure if I was burning it or if it was supposed to be browner than that.  Oh well.

Simple Curry Using Curry Roux (Serves 4-6)
- 1 lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs (or beef, pork, tofu)
- 2 carrots
- 2 onions
- 1-2 Idaho potatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 tbsp ginger
- 4 cups of chicken stock (if using homemade curry roux), water if using storebought
- 1 apple
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp salt
- homemade curry roux or 1 box of storebought curry roux
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp ketchup

Directions
1) Cut up meat/tofu.  Salt and pepper.
2) Peel and cut carrots into rolling wedges and onions into wedges.
3) Cut potatoes into 1.5 inch pieces and soak in water for 15 minutes to remove starch.
4) Crush garlic and grate ginger.
5) Heat oil in pot over medium heat and saute onions until translucent.
6) Add ginger and garlic.
7) Add meat and cook until browned.
8) Add carrots and mix.  Then add stock/water.
9) Bring stock to boil and skim scrum off surface.
10) Peel apple and coarsely grate and add.
11) Add honey and salt.  Simmer uncovered for 20 min, stirring occasionally.
12) Add potatoes and cook for 15 min, or until tender.  Turn off heat.
13) Add curry roux.  If using storebought, just add directly in, piece by piece.  If using homemade, add some stock to curry roux and stir to combine until smooth and then add.
14) Add soy sauce and ketchup.  Simmer uncovered on low heat, stirring occasionally, until curry thickens.

ingredients laid out. nevermind the booze in the background

I halved this recipe, because if it turned out to be gross, I did not want to be eating it for a whole week.  I used beef instead of chicken.  I also omitted the potatoes because eating the curry with rice felt like too much starch.  I wasn't too sure about adding an apple, honey, soy sauce, or ketchup to my curry.  I understand that Japanese curry is sweeter than other curries, but I figured I'd taste and see if I should add.

As I was cooking, I saw that a lot of the stock was evaporating.  Since I like my curry saucy, I actually simmered it for 15 of the 20 minutes with the lid on.  After I added the curry roux, I did a taste check and it tasted a bit bland.  I added more curry powder and salt, and gave in and added the honey, soy sauce, and ketchup.  I also added worcestershire sauce.  I saw someone else suggest it on another website and thought, why the hell not?  I'm not sure if I should have omitted it because it immediately makes me think that I'm eating beef stew.

When the curry was thickened to my satisfaction, I poured some over rice and braced myself.  Not.  bad.  Not bad at all.  It did have a slight bitterness to it, which made me believe that I probably did burn the roux a bit, but it wasn't overwhelming.  Eating it with rice definitely added to my enjoyment.  It didn't taste like S&B's Golden Curry, but it is a worthy substitute.

looks just like S&B Golden Curry!