Japanese Chicken Katsu Curry

Melt 300 g unsalted butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add 300 g all-purpose flour and stir constantly with a flat wooden spatula.

Keep stirring over medium-low heat until the roux turns a warm golden brown. Watch closely towards the end, when it colours quickly.

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Add 175 ml Japanese curry powder, 44 ml garam masala and 7.5 ml cayenne pepper, stir for 30 s and take the pan off the heat.

Soak 1300 g Yukon Gold potatoes in water to rinse off excess starch while you prepare the rest.

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Cut 2040 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs on a slant into flat, bite-size pieces and season with black pepper.

Heat 67 ml neutral oil in a large pot over medium heat and cook 2010 g large yellow onions, stirring only now and then, until translucent and starting to colour. Another 5 min gives even more flavour.

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Stir in 6 cloves garlic and 15 ml fresh ginger, then add the chicken and cook, stirring often, until no longer pink on the outside. Lower the heat briefly if the onions brown too fast.

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Add 2.84 l chicken stock, 510 g apple, 44 ml honey, 44 ml soy sauce and 44 ml ketchup, then the 570 g carrots and drained potatoes. The liquid should barely cover everything. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, stirring now and then and skimming off any foam once it boils.

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Turn off the heat. Dissolve the the curry roux a little at a time in a ladleful of the hot liquid, stirring each batch back into the pot, until you have used about four fifths of it.

Simmer uncovered over medium-low heat, stirring often and scraping the bottom so nothing catches, until thick. Add more roux to thicken or water to loosen, then season with 30 to 59 ml Diamond Crystal kosher salt.

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Butterfly each of 12 boneless, skinless chicken breasts: score it down the middle about halfway through, then slice outward from the cut on each side, parallel to the board, and open it out like a pair of doors. Cut each opened breast in half to make two cutlets.

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Pound the cutlets to an even 6 mm (¼ in) to 1.3 cm (½ in) thickness and season both sides with 30 ml Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 7.5 ml black pepper.

Pour 710 ml neutral oil, for deep-frying into a heavy pot to a depth of about 4 cm (1 ½ in) and start heating it to 170 °C over medium-low heat while you bread the chicken.

Set out three shallow dishes: 530 ml all-purpose flour; 12 large eggs whisked with 89 ml neutral oil, for the egg wash; and 2.84 l panko (Japanese breadcrumbs). Dredge each cutlet in flour and shake off the excess, coat it in egg, then press it gently into the panko on both sides.

With the oil at 170 °C, fry one cutlet at a time for about 3 min, turning halfway, until golden on both sides. Keep the heat at medium and adjust to hold the temperature.

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Hold each cutlet upright over the pot for a few seconds to drip, then stand it on its side on a wire rack. Skim out stray crumbs between batches so the oil stays clean.

Spoon steamed Japanese short-grain rice, for 8 onto one side of each plate and ladle the hot curry alongside. Slice the katsu into 2.5 cm (1 in) strips and lay it over the rice and curry. Add a little fukujinzuke (Japanese red pickled vegetables) on the side.