japanese curry with apple sauce

I'm a big fan of Japanese curry. It's easy to make and hard to fail. But sometimes it gets a bit boring. So I was thinking what I could do to make it interesting. Then I saw my daughter's apple sauce in the pantry. My daughter used to love apple sauce. She would eat 2-3 of those a day. But one day she decided that she doesn't like apple sauce anymore. So I have few apple sauce sitting in the pantry just waiting to be eaten. So I decided to give a shot at Japanese curry with apple sauce. Some Japanese people add chunks of apples in their curry so why not apple sauce, yea? It turned out great. I used the medium spicy curry, but the apple sauce made it milder and sweeter. 

Ingredients:

Chicken (or any choice of meat) - 2 (cubed)
Carrots - 3 small (cubed)
Potatoes - 2 med (cubed)
Onion - 1/2 (cubed)

Water - 400 ml (*see TIPS)
Japanese curry - 1/2 box

Apple sauce - 1 (about 2/3 cup)

 

Prep:

1. Cut all ingredients in desired shapes. I like to cut them into 1/2 inch cubes, but some families like it bigger chunks. 
2. Season chicken with salt & pepper, set it aside. 

Season chicken meat with salt & pepper

 Cook:

1. In a pot, heat 2 TBS of oil. Fry onion until fragrant & start to brown. 
2. Add chicken and fry or 2-3 minutes longer. Stir so it won't stick to the pot. 
3. Add carrots and potatoes and fry for another 2-3 minutes. 
4. Add water, just enough to cover the other ingredients. 
5. Let it simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Using a spatula, take out the white stuff on top. The soup should be nice chicken-stock color (golden brown). 
6. Add Japanese curry blocks. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally. If it starts to look dry, add more water (1/4 cup at a time).
7. The curry is done when the soup thickens a bit. Last 10 minutes or so, add in the apple sauce. Adjust the taste.

Take out the white stuff on the top

The color of the soup should be chicken-stock like. Add more water to cover the ingredients.

 Serve:

1. Serve over rice. It's one dish wonder, but if you want more veggies, add grilled/pickled veggies

TIPS

• Don't put all the water at once. First, add just enough water to cover the veggies/chicken. After you take the white stuff off the top, add more water (gradually).
• If you prefer chunks of apple, add them only few minutes before you serve (skin the apple)