Not so Cuddly Katsu Curry. Just like Wagamama's!!!

Almost everyone loves a curry and my all time favourite is Wagamams Chicken Katsu Curry but one serving contains a belly busting 1300 calories and over 50g of fat. You would never think it looking at it innocently sitting there on the plate looking all lovely and healthy....it's that bit of salad they stick on the side that does it! I love a good chinese curry as well if we're getting a take away but that has even more calories and fat. 1400 calories is an approximation of whats in the average take away curry. When I decided I absolutely had to lose the weight take aways weren't out per say, they were just limited to once a week or once a fortnight, but rather than spend allllll those calories on one meal I decided to make my own curry and with rice it weighs in at a healthier 554 calories and only 9g of fat! It's not an enormous portion but it's enough to leave you sitting there giving your belly a satisfied rub and doesn't it look yummy!

Nutritional Facts:
Calories: 554 ( this is the calorie count after the low cal swaps have been made as below)
Fat: 9g
WW PP: 13.8
I will work out the carbs and sugars etc and post them later
Prep time: Aaggesss
cooking time: 1 hour. (If you're cooking this entire dish from scratch for the first time allow yourself a good hour and a half )

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon groundnut or vegetable oil.  (I recently discovered Flora Cuisine. it has 40 less calories per tablespoon than olive oil and 45% less saturated fat. It's definitely worth swapping to.)
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled no need to chop
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped ( I buy the big bag of tesco market value carrots that are much cheaper but smaller so use four of these)
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 tablespoon medium curry powder (this will result in a mild curry that leaves a slight after burn in your mouth, you can change the amount to suit your own preferences)
• 600ml chicken stock (I make mine up with 1 and half organic chicken stock cubes)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (using light soy will save 69 cals in this dish)
• 1 bay leaf (fresh is best but dry will do)
• ½ teaspoon garam masala (readily available in all supermarkets)
• 4 x 100g chicken breasts (it's hard to find  chicken breasts that are an exact weight and they can be expensive - we buy a whole chicken and fillet it outselves. The Tesco value chicken is around the €3 mark and each breast is about 200g so split each one in half. We keep the chicken legs for our low cal roast and freeze the wings until we have enough to make a whole bunch of buffalo wings)
• 100g flour, seasoned with lots of salt and pepper
• 1 small egg, beaten lightly
• 120g cornflakes, bashed in a pestle and morta or just crushed with your (clean) hand no need to get all fancy
• 5 spritz’s of 1 cal fry oil

Serve with sushi rice and salad.

(You will need a food processor or a blender for the sauce)


Method:

This dish can be complicated to time so I like to make the sauce in advance and just reheat it when everything else is done.You can make it the night before and it will keep fine in the fridge. I also like to have my chicken prepped and ready to go before I put the rice on as the rice will need constant attention for the first 15 minutes or so.

1. Heat the oil in a small pan and add the onions and garlic. Sautee for a couple of minutes then throw in your chopped carrot. Turn the heat down and leave to sweat for about 10 minutes giving it the occassional stir to stop the onions sticking. They will soften and start to caramelize.


2.Stir in the flour and curry powder and cook them for a minute. Slowly pour in the chicken stock bit by bit until combined (do it slowly to avoid getting lumps) then add the honey, soy and bay leaf.  Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes this will allow all the flavours to combine and the sauce to thicken so don't be tempted to skip the 20 minutes.

3.Finally add the garam masala. Don't add the salt and pepper until its all been blended up and tasted. It will need a good wizz in the blender to make sure there are no lumpy bits left. it's probably best to remove the bay leaf before you blend.  Season to your own taste and if the sauce is too thick or too strong for your liking add a few drops of hot water. and thats your sauce done.

4. To prep the chicken preheat the oven to 200 C.  You're going to need to dirty a lot of dishes! You will need a plate for the flour seasoned with salt and pepper, a plate for the beaten egg and a plate for your crushed cornflakes. You want the cornflakes crushed very small indeed. If you leave them big they will just flake off the chicken when you try to cut it.

5. Flatten your 100g chicken breast out so that it's no more than 2cm  thick. (I give mine a GENTLE bash with a rolling pin) then coat it in the flour, making sure to cover every visible inch, then dip in the egg and finally in the cornflakes making sure to thouroughly coat the chicken. try not to leave any of the chicken visible. (this is gonna stick to your hands) Do this for each breast and place in a baking tray then spritz with oil. Only put in the oven once you have your rice simmering away. 20 minutes is all it with need when it's that thin but check it after 15 by slicing into the middle and checking for any pink meat. Cooking time can vary...sometimes it takes 30 minutes to cook through if it's a bit thicker. (If you chicken isn't cooked through but your coating is blackening slightly just cover with tin foil.)

6. To prep the sushi rice wash it thouroughly in cold water. the water needs to run clear. It usually takes about 4 goes but so worth it. long grain rice just won't do this dish justice. I usually use the Yutaka brand sushi rice because it's always in stock in my local tesco.  It says on the box that 250g will serve 2 people but 100g per person is really more than enough.  for every 100g of rice  you will need 130ml of water so for 4 servings thats 520ml.

7.Add the washed rice and water to a pan and bring to the boil. once it reaches a rolling boil, reduce the heat, give it a good stir and simmer for 10 minutes. The instructions on the box say to leave the lid on but you will need to stir it occassionally to stop it sticking to the pan. I should think leaving the lid on for the last two minutes without stirring it is vital.

8. After 10 minutes turn off the heat and leave the lid on to let the rice steam. leave for 15 minutes.

9. reheat your sauce a little at this stage.

10. I find plain old lettuce leaves boring so I like to add a sprinkling of red wine vinegar and some salad seasoning (available in all supermarkets with the herbs) Stick it all on a plate and enjoy.  Try eating it with chop sticks to make it last longer.


I guarantee it will taste like a real Wagamams Katsu Curry, if not better!