I just made a big batch of this Japanese-style curry today and wanted to share since it's super customizable and a great comfort food, plus it freezes really well. I've actually made it so many times that I don't measure anything and had to fish out the recipe card I had written it down on to copy from, so needless to say it gets a lot of use. I only wish I could remember where I originally found it.
For curry:
Enough oil (I use olive) to coat pan
2 large cloves garlic, grated or chopped
2 teaspoons powdered ginger (or chopped fresh ginger)
3 tablespoons curry powder or garam masala
1 bay leaf
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1.5 cups stock (chicken, beef, vegetable, etc.)
2 large onions, sliced sliced thin (2 large onions)
2 carrots, cut into chunks
2 - 3 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks (peeled or unpeeled, doesn't matter)
1/2 cup green peas
1 small apple, peeled and grated, OR 1/4 cup applesauce
Salt and pepper to taste
For roux:
2 tablespoons butter (or other fat - peanut oil, vegetabel oil, olive oil, lard, bacon fat, etc.)
2 tablespoons flour
1. Coat pan evenly with oil. Turn heat to medium-low and add ginger and garlic. Carefully fry until evenly brown but not dark.
2. Add onions and stir to coat evenly. Add more oil in very small increments if pan is too dry. Reduce heat to low, cover pan with lid, and let the onions steam cook until they're translucent and very limp.
3. Remove lid and increase heat to medium high. Continue frying onion mixture, stirring constantly, until volume has reduced significantly and you're left with a caramel-brown paste. (If onion sticks while cooking, add a small amount of water to the area and loosen with a spatula.)
4. Add curry powder or garam masala to paste. Saute just until the mixture is very fragrant.
5. Add stock, carrots, grated apple or applesauce, tomato paste, and bay leaf, mixing well to help the tomato paste blend with the stock. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Add the potatoes. Replace lid and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, or until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender.
7. While the curry is simmering, make a roux in a small separate pan. Over medium-low heat, heat butter until just melted. Add flour and stir constantly until the roux is no longer bubbly, is light to medium brown in color, and smells like baking bread.
8. Add green peas to curry, then add the roux, starting with half at first. Increase heat to bring the curry back up to a boil, stirring constantly until the roux has completely blended in. The curry should thicken as you do so. Keep adding roux until the consistency is to your liking. (I like to use the full amount most of the time.)
9. Taste to make sure veggies are tender and season with salt and pepper to taste. If you like an even sweeter curry, add more tomato paste or some honey or brown sugar.
It seems like more work than it actually is, plus there's lots of ways to take shortcuts - I don't always make the onions into a paste for example, and instead just fry them until translucent and lightly browned (the little bits of onion in the sauce taste fantastic), and I usually use frozen veggies so my simmering time is a little longer but it saves me the trouble of peeling and chopping everything. This is very different from traditional Indian curries (which I also love!!) but delicious in its own right and you can do pretty much whatever you want with it, like add in meat or other veggies (personally I love cauliflower and chickpeas in place of the carrots and green peas once in a while).
These are easy to make & taste so much better than store bought marshmallows
Homemade Marshmallows
Ingredients :
3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
12 ounces granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Nonstick spray
I made homemade marshmallows for the first time a few weeks ago and they were absolutely amazing!! There's really no comparing homemade and store bought, they're so much more rich and indulgent. I didn't have corn syrup so I made an equal amount of simple syrup (sugar + water) instead and I don't think it hurt the flavor at all. Ugh, I need more...