Back in 2008, after making the basic yogurt-based curry from Joy of Cooking several times and never being entirely pleased with it (by the time the sauce started to thicken, it was so spicy I could barely stand it), I stumbled across a Japanese-style chicken curry on the No Recipes blog. He’s updated it several times since then, but I’m still using a slight adaptation of the old one because it worked well for us and the ingredients were easy to come by.

Then came Primal eating, and all of a sudden one of our favorite recipes was verboten, because it called for making a roux (and because rice and potatoes were questionable at the time). Finally, in the last several months, I found a solution.

If you won’t/can’t do potatoes, sweet potatoes would also be tasty. Cauli rice works in place of rice, although you might want to reduce the water a bit, as it can be a bit soupy. Beef or shrimp would also be tasty. So, without further ado, curry rice!

Japanese-style Chicken Curry

Serves 8

Roux

• 3 T butter
• 2 T curry powder
• 3/4 t cayenne pepper
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 T tomato paste or ketchup (I use this)
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce (I use this, or make your own)
• 5 egg yolks

Curry

• 2 t oil
• 2 large onions, sliced thin
• 2 lb chicken thighs, cleaned and cut into chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into chunks
• 4 C water
• 2 large yukon gold potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 1 t Real salt
• 1 t curry powder

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium low heat and add the onions. Saute the onions until they are golden brown and caramelized (about 30 minutes). Turn up the heat to high, add the chicken and brown.

Add the carrots, and the water then bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and add the potatoes, salt and curry powder. Simmer for about 30 minutes or until you can pass a fork through the carrots and potatoes and the meat is tender.

For the roux, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the curry powder, frying just until fragrant. Add the cayenne and some fresh ground black pepper and stir to incorporate. Add the tomato paste and worcestershire sauce and combine. Remove from heat and set aside until the meat and veggies are ready.

To make the curry, ladle about 2 cups of liquid into the fried spices and whisk in the egg yolks until it’s smooth. Pour this mixture back into the other pot and gently stir until thickened.

Serve over white rice, cauliflower rice, or vegetable noodles.