Keema curry Japanese Version キーマカレー

Keema (meaning ground meat) curry and its variation dry curry are popular in Japan. I posted  some variations of these dishes before. This is not a genuine Indian or Pakistani keema curry but a Japanese variation. One of the reasons I made this dish was to use up left-over ground pork. I am sure pork is not the kind of meat usually used in genuine keema curry. Also, it’s usually made with a premixed Japanese curry powder (I used S&B brand*) which has a taste distinctive from Indian curry flavoring. I would characterize Japanese curry powder as milder, not hot, somewhat sweeter with a somewhat different range of spices. I thought I added a good amount of Japanese curry powder to the keema and it had plenty of flavor that could described as “spicy” but it was not really hot. The dish also included many vegetables (onion, celery, carrot—almost a myripoix), garlic and ginger plus the addition of garam masala. The addition of tonkatsu sauce toward the end of the cooking was a distinctly Japanese touch that would not be found in an Indian curry. It did add to the nice complexity in flavors. We like this curry very much. I served it over rice with a sunny-side-up fried egg, rakkyo らっきょう and fukushin-zuke 福神漬け pickels and (home-pasteurized) egg with runny yolk, which are classic accompaniment for Japanese curry.

*Reportedly it contains Turmeric, Coriander, Fenugreek, Cumin, Red Pepper, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Ginger, Star Anise, Cloves, Cardamon, Fennel, Nutmeg, Laurel Leaves, Allspice and Garlic.

Similar to what I posted before and also I consulted the recipe on-line. Instead of tomato I used Ketchup.

Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 Jalapeño pepper, seeded deveined and finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground garlic
I package brown shimeji mushroom, bottom cut off and separated (optional, I just had a package and wanted to use it up)
2 tsp or more curry powder (I used Japanese S&B brand)
1 tsp Garam Masala
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tbs ketchup
1 tbs tonkatsu sauce
1 tbs unsalted butter
1 cup chicken broth (or more if too thick)
2 tbs olive or vegetable oil

Directions:
In a pot on medium flame, add the oil. When hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, Jalapeño pepper, garlic and ginger. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, add the curry powder, salt and pepper and stir for several more minutes. Push the vegetables to one side of the pan, add the ketchup in the exposed bottom of the pan and sauté until color changes to dark red/brown (Maillard reaction).
Add the pork and stir and cook until the pork separated and color turns. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 10-20 minutes. Add the gram masala, butter and tonkatsu sauce and simmer for 5 more minutes. If needed add more curry powder (or cayenne pepper powder).

This was a very nice refreshing change from Indian inspired curries we have been making recently. It is nicely spicy in a mild almost sweet manner. Served over rice with the accompaniment of Japanese pickles used for curries this was a very Japanese interpretation of the spicy dish known as curry.

Dry curry/Keema curry, Sort of ドライカレーもどき

Whenever we barbecue chicken we cook two, so that we have enough for sandwiches during the week but often, we end up with excess chicken meat. I have used the cooked chicken meat in many different ways making curry, soup, salad, terrine and more. This is another new variation. It is a type of curry I came up with one day. It is similar to a type of  Japanese curry called "Keema curry" or "dry curry". "Dry curry" must be a Japanese modification of "keema curry". It is called "dry" as opposed to regular Japanese style curry which has a thick "wet" sauce. I had these type of curries in mind but I did not even look up recipes until I started writing up this dish for the blog. This was my attempt at finishing up the barbecued chicken dark meat. I served this over rice and topped with soft poached egg and a side of assorted pickles shown in the small square dish on the right. The pickle at the top of the dish is homemade pickled watermelon rind, the white one below that is store bought rakkyo らっきょう and the red one on the bottom is "Fukushin zuke" 福神漬け.

The poached egg had a nice runny yolk which is mixed into the curry and the rice. As per Japanese tradition, we ate it with a spoon not a fork.

The curry is made of finely chopped cooked chicken, and vegetables and I also include raisins which gives it a nice sweet taste. It does not have any sauce per se.

Japanese generally top this with chopped boiled egg, a raw egg or raw egg yolk but we like our egg soft poached.

Still the yolk is totally runny and almost same as using raw egg yolk (this is pasteurized Daividson's egg).

Ingredients (probably makes 4 servings):

Chicken meat, dark meat, barbecued (4 legs), meat separated and finely chopped

Onion, one medium, finely diced

Garlic, one fat clove, finely diced

Ginger, finely chopped, 1 tsp

Carrot, one medium, peeled, sliced on bias, julienned and finely diced.

Raisin, 1/3 cup

Japanese curry powder (SB brand) but any curry powder will do,  2 tsp or more

Garam masala, 1/2 tsp

Chicken broth (about 2-3 cups or as needed), I used Swanson no fat and low salt version

Olive oil for sauteeing (2tbs)

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In the pot, I added olive oil or any vegetable oil and when the surface started simmering, added finely chopped garlic and ginger.
2. When the garlic and ginger got fragrant, I added the onion, carrot and kept sauteing for several more minutes.
3. I added the chicken, the curry powder and kept stirring for a few more minutes and added the raisins. 
4. I added the chicken broth just enough to cover the ingredients and simmered for 10-15 minutes.
5. If the liquid is not enough add more chicken broth until everything is cooked and only some moisture left.
6. I added the garam masala, salt and black pepper.

Assembly:

I placed cooked rice in a bowl and layered it with the dry curry and topped with soft poached egg.

This was a good new way to use leftover cooked chicken. Of course you could make this from other ground meats such as beef, lamb, chicken or pork. The curry was spicy enough that you feel the heat but not too hot. The egg yolk makes the curry a bit milder and these pickles went so well with this curry. Since this curry is "dry", you could use it over a cracker or a piece of bread as well.

Ground pork curry ひき肉カレー

I mentioned that pork gyouza stuffing is very versatile and can be used as the base for other dishes. This is another example of that kind of versatility. Of course you could make this curry dish with just simple ground meat. In any case, I had some leftover gyouza stuffing (about 9 oz or about 250 grams) and decide to use it up before it went bad.

This may have been inspired by keema curry but this version is not at all authentic. Japanese have created many Japanese variations of curry beside the classic Japanese curry which in itself is a variation based on British modification of the classic indian curry. These Japanese variations include "dry"curry and a rather modern invention in my home town, Sapporo 札幌, Hokkaido 北海道 called "soup" curry. This curry I made is sort of cross between these latter two.



I included chunky potato and served this a closing dish or "shime" 〆 or ending dish. I made this curry a day before I served it.

Meat: Leftover gyouza stuffing (9 oz or 250 grams) made of ground pork mixed garlic chive, ground ginger and ground garlic.

Vegetable: I used onion (one medium, finely chopped), celery (2 stalks, finely chopped), carrot (2 medium, peeled, finely chopped), yellow squash (half with seeds removed and finely diced, optional, I happened to have it), garlic (1 clove, finely chopped), and ginger root (1/2 tsp finely chopped). I also peeled some small white potatoes (6-7).

I added light olive oil (2 tbs) in a pot on medium flame. When the oil was hot, I first sautéed the garlic and ginger and then onion and celery. I added curry powder (2 tsp or more, this time I used S&B brand Japanese curry powder) and kept sautéing. After the curry powder became fragrant, I added flour (2 tbs) and kept stirring until well incorporated. I moved the vegetables on one side of the pot and added tomato paste (2 tbs) in the empty area of the pan. I sautéed the tomato paste until the color slightly darkened and mixed thoroughly into the remaining ingredients. I added the remaining vegetables except for the potatoes. I added chicken broth (1 cup, my usual Swanson low-salt no fat version). Using a silicon spatula, I mixed and scraped off any "fond" that developed on the bottom of the pot. I also added Garam masala (1 tsp, this particular one had a strong cumin flavor) and more chicken broth (2 cups). I put in the potatoes and let it simmer for 40 minutes. I tasted and adjusted the seasoning using salt and black pepper. It was moderately spicy. We did not eat this immediately. I heated it up few days later and served over rice with sautéed asparagus and Japanese curry condiments (rakkyou ラッキョウ and fukushinzuke 福神漬け).

The addition of tomato paste made this curry sauce a bit unique. The sauce mellowed and it was only mildly spicy but had lots of flavors. The use of all the finely cut vegetables also gave it an undertone reminiscent of a french mirapois.  As an impromptu, leftover control cuisine, this was not bad at all.