Chicken Katsu Curry ... à la Slimming World

I've loved chicken Katsu curry ever since I first tasted it at the Wagamama's in Manchester's print works. It combines three things that I find yummy; sticky boiled rice, deep-fried chicken breast and curry sauce. In fact it's so good I'm wanting to eat more of it ... and I've only just polished off a huge plateful!

Anyway ... while I am still in the state of being "a-little-bit-bigger-than-I-want-to-be" or, to put it simply ... fat,  I have been faffing around in the kitchen trying to come up with a slimming world "friendly" version.  

As this is my take on the recipe, I am also enhancing it by serving it with Green Tea rice, rather than the plain boiled rice.  I came across the aforementioned when in New York with my sisters a couple of years ago, wandering around the backstreets of the city.  

As always we were in search of food before heading off to a comedy club night and we came upon a Bim Bim Bap shack.  We had the green tea rice, eating it on bollards outside the shop as there wasn't enough space inside and it was ... well, yummy! So I have decided to recreate that, think of the health benefits of green tea, while tucking into curry ... well, it makes me feel slightly more saintly anyways!

I am, therefore, now pleased to share with you my low-syn version of this recipe for you to try.  The  recipe serves 4 @ 1/2 syn per serving! Only 2 syns for the lot, not that i'm suggesting you eat it all by yourself of course! 

Oh, by the way if you do try it, please leave a comment for me, I'm starting to get a little lonely out here ...

So, to make Chicken Katsu Curry with Green Tea Rice for four (4) people, you will need:

For the chicken:

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon Bouillon 

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

4 60g slices wholemeal bread*, made into breadcrumbs (2 x 60g = 1 Healthy Extra B*)

4 chicken breasts 

For the katsu curry sauce:

1 onion, finely chopped

5 whole garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 tablespoons of lentils (red or green ... or any other colour you fancy!)

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 teaspoon garam masala
2 tablespoons turmeric
2 teaspoons honey (2 syns)

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bay leaf

500ml chicken stock

water as needed

For the rice:

2 bags green tea

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups short-grain rice (like sushi, paella or risotto rice)

3 1/2 cups water

Note: if you just want plain boiled rice then that's fine too! But do give this a try, it really does taste nice!

Firstly, make the sauce.  Put some low-calorie spray (I use FryLight) in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic.  Soften for  about 2-3 minutes, I find that I need to add a couple of tablespoons of water to the onions after a minute or two, to stop them catching in the pan.  

When the onions are at the translucent stage add the carrots and 1/2 cup (3-4 tablespoons) of water, cover and allow to sweat on a low heat for around 10 minutes. Hopefully, after 10 minutes they should start to caramelise, however not to worry if they don't (oh the joys of low-fat cooking).

Now, stir in the curry powder, turmeric and gram masala and cook for a minute or two. It should now resemble a thick paste. Pour in the stock, stirring all the while, then add the honey, soy sauce and bay leaf.   Bring the sauce to the boil, then add the lentils (these are just to thicken the sauce instead of flour),  reduce the heat and start to simmer for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, you can prepare the chicken.  Put the eggs, Bouillon, salt and pepper into a bowl together and mix well.  


Add the breadcrumbs to a separate bowl. Get your chicken breasts, put them on a chopping board and give them a good bashing with a rolling pin (or meat tenderiser) to flatten them out.  Then place a breast in the egg mixture, coat it well, then dip into the breadcrumbs and cover.  Place the coated chicken breasts onto a greased (well ... Frylighted) baking tray and put into a hot oven for 15-20 mins.  This means they should be ready around the same time as the curry sauce. I have an Aga and use the roasting oven and top-most rungs. For a conventional oven I think it should be around 220 degrees but you will know best!

So, we have the sauce simmering away and the chicken in the oven.  Now for the rice! This is super simple.

Take the tea out of the bags and mix with the salt (I put mine in a pestle and motor as the leaves were quite big and I wanted a powder effect, but it's up to you).  Add this to a pan with the rice and the water.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer with the lid on for 10 minutes.  Turn off, leave covered  for at least 10 minutes.  If timed correctly it should be ready by the time you want to dish up! A minute or 5 extra won't do it any harm.  In the Aga I keep it in the simmering oven once it's ready.

After 20 minutes, or when the chicken breasts are nearly ready, take the sauce off the heat and allow to cool for a short while.  Put the sauce mixture into a blender and blend until smooth.  If you don't have one you can pass the sauce through a sieve instead.  Put it back in the pan and re-heat if necessary. 

To serve, put the rice in a small mound on the plate (i used a small bowl to mould it), cut a coated breast into strips and then drizzle 1/4 of the sauce over it.  Repeat for the other 3 plates.  

Sit down, tuck in and enjoy!  My taste testers (O.K. partner and sisters, but believe me they are not biased when it comes to taste tests!) have assured me that its pretty close to the real thing for a low-syn version of a katsu curry!

Cooks notes: You can of course take out the honey to make a completely syn-free version of this sauce.  I have tried it and it's just not the same, however, if you do decide to take it out I would at least put in a tablespoon or two of sweetener to compensate.  However, 1/2 syn isn't bad at all! 

If you find that this sauce isn't thick enough try adding a few more lentils the next time around, try to avoid adding flour as it just adds syns that you don't need and at 3 1/2 syns a tablespoon it just isn't worth it!

*If you don't mind "tweaks" you can substitute the bread for instant mashed potato (you know what I'm talking about!) and then you don't have to use up your Healthy Extra.  It is, however, better with breadcrumbs.