Japanese vs. Indian Curry: A Flavorful Showdown

Indian Curry Preparation

• 🇮🇳 Ronica, an Indian-Fijian home chef, prepares her version of Indian curry, emphasizing it as a method of cooking rather than a strict recipe.
• 🧅 The base involves blending onion, garlic, ginger, and deseeded Thai chili into a paste.
• 🔥 Spices like cumin seeds, dried curry leaves, cinnamon stick, and black peppercorns are bloomed in ghee before adding the onion paste.
• 🌶️ Ground spices including Kashmiri chili, coriander, cumin powder, and turmeric are added and cooked until a deep red-orange hue is achieved.
• 🍅 Tomato puree is incorporated to build layers of flavor, cooking until the mixture is dark, thick, and gravy-like.
• 🥥 Chicken (dark meat recommended for tenderness) is seasoned, added to the mixture, and then simmered with coconut milk and water until cooked through.
• ✨ Garam masala and a pinch of fenugreek are stirred in, followed by lime juice, before serving with rice and cilantro.

Japanese Curry Preparation

• 🇯🇵 Rie, a cookbook author, makes Japanese curry from scratch, noting it's typically soupier than Indian curry and often uses pre-made curry blocks.
• 🥣 Spices like curry powder, coriander, and cumin are toasted to eliminate a powdery aftertaste.
• 🧈 A roux is made by melting butter and adding flour and cornstarch to create a velvety texture, a technique inspired by French cooking.
• 🍯 Honey is added to the roux to balance the spice, and the mixture is flattened into curry blocks for later use.
• 🍳 Chicken is seared in a pan, then removed, followed by softened onions, ginger, and garlic.
• 🥕 Potatoes and carrots are added, along with chicken stock and the seared chicken, then simmered for 20 minutes.
• 🍎 Grated apple is added for sweetness, followed by the homemade curry blocks, which are melted into the stew.
• 🍚 The curry is simmered for another 10 minutes to allow flavors to meld and apples to cook down, then served over rice.

Taste Test and Comparison

• tasting panel tries both the Japanese and Indian curries, initially guessing which was which based on color.
• 😋 The Japanese curry is described as having an earthy flavor and a more gelatinous texture.
• 🔥 The Indian curry is noted for being spicier, with hints of lemon and chili, offering a distinctly different taste profile.