Japanese Chicken Curry

Before I married into my in-law's family, I never used to like curry. Didn't hate it, didn't love it. Now I'm growing to really like it. My MIL makes a really good chicken curry (not spicy) and my aunt in law makes a really good oxtail (sometimes lamb) curry that has a spicy kick. Both versions are delicious in its own respect but they both earn conversion points from me. A dish or a chef always earns higher points for converting me from a dislike to a like. Pictured above is my chicken curry in the foreground and my aunt in law's oxtail curry in the background. Served on top of brown rice.

Sometimes when I'm really busy, I spend an unnecessary amount of time cooking food that I don't need even though I have plenty of leftovers in the fridge. It's therapeutic and I trick myself into thinking I'm still productive even though my priorities are not in order. So curry making day was one such day where I productively slacked from schoolwork by whipping up a large batch.

For my chicken curry, I used yukon gold potatoes from the farmer's market. Organic carrots from Safeway. 1 onion from the farmer's market.

Chicken drumsticks from Costco chopped into thirds using a clever.

I do not at all claim credit for making this curry seasoning from scratch. I bought this curry packet from the Korean store. It says hot but its not that hot. Warning: After buying it and making it, I notice one of the ingredients is MSG. If this is an issue for you, don't buy this brand. Once I finish up these packets, I'll probably try to make it from scratch next time but there's at least 2 more curry batches before that happens.

Following the directions on the curry package, I sauteed the onions and meat then tossed in veggies and filled with water until contents were covered. At this point it begins to look like a chicken broth. After it boils, simmer for 15 minutes and then add curry blocks. My batch was made with 1.25 curry blocks. Each box comes with 2 blocks which can be broken into quarters.

It made 3 tubs of roughly 32 oz each. We almost finished one tonight. I hear curry can be frozen but I don't know for how long. My guess is 3 weeks but I'll let you know by the end if it can freeze for longer or shorter than that.