Before making anything else, be sure to prepare a batch of rice for your curry!

Prepare all the vegetables by chopping them into medium-sized chunks (about 1-2 in). Mince the garlic.

Heat up a medium or large pot over medium heat, and add neutral oil. Once warm, add the chopped onions and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly translucent.

Add the minced garlic, and cook for another minute or until fragrant.

Add the potatoes and carrots, and stir to mix well.

Add enough low-sodium chicken broth (or water) to cover the vegetables by an inch, and turn up the heat to high. Once it starts boiling, lower the heat back to medium to keep it at a low boil. Cover and continue cooking for ~15 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked through to their center. In the meantime, you can prep your chicken and breading (check Breading your chicken).

Once the vegetables are cooked through, add the curry blocks. I used about 1 tablespoon each of the two curries: Vermont and Java. Stir well, and keep stirring until it’s completely dissolved, and the curry thickens (this should take a few minutes). If you like your curry thicker, you can add more blocks; if you like your curry thinner, you can add more chicken broth or water.

I have a few ingredients that I listed as optional for the curry: the rice vinegar, soy sauce, honey, and black pepper. For me, these take the boxed curry to the next level by adding a bit of acidity (vinegar), umami (soy sauce), and sweetness (honey). I recommend tasting your curry, and adding these ingredients one by one to see how they each affect the taste, then adjusting accordingly!

Once you’re satisfied with your curry, turn off the heat and set aside.

Prepare 3 shallow plates or bowls: one with all purpose flour, one with egg (whisked well), and the last with Panko bread crumbs. If you decide to add the optional paprika and garlic powder, add them to the bowl of flour and mix well

With a paper towel, dry the chicken thighs, and season them on both sides with salt. If your chicken thighs are very uneven, pound the thicker parts with the back of your knife or a meat tenderizer to flatten them a bit. Cut away any small extra chunks or pieces of fat to get a flat piece of chicken. This makes sure that the chicken cooks evenly when frying.

With tongs or clean hands, place a chicken thigh in the bowl of flour and coat it on all sides, and lightly press the flour into the chicken so that it sticks well.

Shake off any excess flour, then coat it with egg.

Lastly, bread the chicken thigh in the Panko bread crumbs. Make sure you can’t see anymore chicken, and lightly press the crumbs in on all sides. This makes sure that the breading sticks onto it when you’re frying it. Sometimes it helps to break up the Panko into smaller crumbs so that it coats the chicken more thoroughly.

Repeat with the rest of the chicken thighs. If you haven’t yet, go back to the curry instructions and finish steps 7-9!

For shallow-frying, I love using a small pot (one that will fit one chicken thigh), because small pot means even less oil is needed. The high sides of a pot will also prevent the oil from splattering all over your stove.

Over medium heat, add enough neutral oil in a small pot to fill up to about ½ inch up the pot. If you have a digital thermometer, 320-330F is the ideal temperature you want to reach. If you don’t have a thermometer, sprinkle a few Panko bread crumbs into the oil to check the temperature. If it sizzles, it’s ready. If it browns really quickly, it’s too hot, so either pour a bit more oil or lower the heat to cool it down.

With tongs, carefully lower one breaded chicken thigh into the hot oil. Fry for about 3-5 mins or until golden brown, then flip to the other side and fry until golden brown.

Once it’s golden brown on both sides, take it out and let it rest on a cooling rack (the air flow underneath will prevent the breading from getting soggy).

Slice the chicken katsu into thick strips, and serve over the curry and rice.