Equipment
Ingredients
Meat
- 600 g boneless skinless chicken leg meat, cut into 3cm pieces
Aromatics & Fats
- 30 ml vegetable oil
- 150 g yellow onion, finely diced
- 15 g garlic, minced
- 15 g fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Spices
- 15 g yellow curry powder
- 5 g ground cumin
- 2 g cayenne pepper
Produce & Base
- 200 g crushed tomatoes, canned
- 150 g apple, peeled and grated
- 100 g banana, very ripe, mashed into a paste
- 400 ml chicken broth
- 15 ml tamari
- kosher salt
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 356 kcal
- Protein
- 33 g
- Carbohydrates
- 24 g
- Fat
- 15 g
- Fiber
- 6 g
- Sugar
- 12 g
- Sodium
- 1320 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 3 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 3 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 2 g
- Cholesterol
- 139 mg
- Potassium
- 836 mg
- Calcium
- 89 mg
- Iron
- 3.9 mg
- Magnesium
- 77 mg
- Phosphorus
- 343 mg
- Zinc
- 3.3 mg
- Vitamin A
- 39 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 14 mg
- Vitamin E
- 1.6 mg
- Vitamin K
- 10 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.8 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.9 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.22 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.40 mg
- Niacin
- 9.3 mg
- Folate
- 23 mcg
- Water
- 305 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Prepare all ingredients: cut the chicken, dice the onion, grate the ginger and apple, and mash the banana until smooth.
Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering, roughly 190 Celsius or 375 Fahrenheit. Add the chicken pieces in a single layer and sear until lightly browned on the outside. Remove chicken and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the finely diced onion to the Dutch oven and saute until translucent and beginning to caramelize. Stir in the minced garlic and grated ginger, cooking for one additional minute until fragrant.
Sprinkle the curry powder, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper over the onion mixture. Stir constantly to toast the spices until highly aromatic, ensuring they do not burn.
Pour in the crushed tomatoes to deglaze the pot, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Stir in the chicken broth, grated apple, mashed banana, and tamari. Return the seared chicken to the pot and stir to combine.
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to low to maintain a gentle simmer at around 90 Celsius or 195 Fahrenheit. Cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken reaches a safe internal temperature of 74 Celsius or 165 Fahrenheit and the sauce has thickened and unified.
Remove the pot from the heat. Taste the curry and season with kosher salt as needed. Let the dish rest covered for five minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
Chef's Notes
- Using boneless, skinless chicken leg meat provides more collagen and fat than breast meat, ensuring the chicken remains succulent during the simmering process.
- Grated apple essentially melts into the sauce. It is an old restaurant trick used in many commercial Japanese curry blocks to provide an underlying, undetectable fruity sweetness.
- Mashing the banana thoroughly is critical. You want it to act as a starch thickener rather than finding chunks of warm fruit in your savory meal.
- Always practice safe handling with raw poultry. Use a separate cutting board and knife for the chicken, and wash hands immediately after handling to prevent cross-contamination.
Storage
Refrigerator: 4 days — Store in an airtight container. Flavors will deepen and improve after 24 hours.
Freezer: 3 months — Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Reheating: Reheat gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat until bubbling, adding a splash of water if the sauce has over-thickened.
Troubleshooting
Sauce remains too thin and watery after the cooking time.
Cause: Excess moisture trapped by a tight-fitting lid, or the banana was not ripe enough to break down completely.
Fix: Remove the lid entirely, increase the heat to medium, and simmer vigorously for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to evaporate excess liquid.
Prevention: Ensure the banana used has brown spots and is extremely soft. Cook with the lid slightly ajar if you prefer a thicker consistency.
Curry tastes overly sweet or lacks depth.
Cause: The apples or bananas were exceptionally sweet, masking the savory and spicy elements.
Fix: Stir in a teaspoon of rice vinegar or lime juice to add acidity, and an extra pinch of kosher salt to balance the sweetness.
Prevention: Use a slightly tart apple variety and stick to accurate measurements for the fruit.
Cultural Context
The integration of fruit like apples and bananas into savory curries became highly popularized in Japanese cuisine during the Meiji era, adapted from Anglo-Indian naval recipes. These additions serve to mellow the harshness of raw spice powders while offering a velvety, naturally thickened texture to the final sauce.
