Curry is one of those foods that pretty much cooks itself--little skill is required if you are using the chocolate bar look-alike cubes. I made a pretty nice batch by frying up some beef, onions, carrots, potatoes, apples and three bulbs of garlic. What did make all the difference is when I added the garlic.
Instead of adding it towards the beginning or middle of the process, I let the mixture simmer for about an hour and then only added it after I turned off the heat, much like adding heavy cream to a bolognaise. I folded the raw squished garlic into the steaming curry and let it sit for a few minutes. As a result, there is a new dimension to the garlic flavor--very obviously garlic, but also sharply spicy in that distinctive way that raw garlic burns. Though this is undoubtedly a strong flavor, it plays well with the other flavors and doesn't seem to overpower it somehow.
We fried up some pork katsu today as well, to accompany the curry. Pounding the katsu doubled the size of the cutlets and makes them taste better by optimizing the meat to panko ratio. Next time, I plan to butterfly the katsu beforehand so I can stuff it with a garlic chili cheese mixture.
With the leftover curry, I think I may use it as a base for croquet, or put it on top of pizza dough to make an indian pizza. Can't go wrong with this stuff. Must not forget--add massive amounts of garlic at the very end...
Sounds great. I'll be waiting for you to make up a batch for us!
Good to see you are cooking. Japanese style curry is absolute bomb. The raw garlic at the end is innovative. Never tried that. Katsu Curry - great combo. Have not tried making corokke with curry. Must have to add a lot of potato to a little bit of curry. I haven't been able to cook at home for a couple of weeks - now I can't wait to get home to cook.