Please help me with this curry. Complete novice!

[BootifulLoser]

Okay, most of you will laugh, but I ordered the "Waitrose Katsu Curry Sauce" thinking I would be able to pour it over some chicken and veg and bake it all in the oven. But the instructions on the sauce don't mention anything at all about baking! I think it is supposed to be a stir-fry sauce but I don't want to stir-fry anything.

I have only made chicken curry once before, many years ago, using a Madahar Jaffrey Balti sauce, and baked it in the oven so I thought this would be the same.

Can I convert this somehow to a baked recipe? What do I do? (Help!) I was planning on having it tonight.

(p.s. Apologies for being a cooking numbskull.)

I make it and then serve it alongside breaded whatever and rice.
The sauce is cooked already, it just needs heating.

Katsu curry is typically served as breaded chicken (or whatever) and rice with the katsu curry sauce poured over it.

I guess you could just use it in the same way you would a jar of balti sauce.

Have you got any curry paste and tinned tomatoes? Or other spices?

Have you got any curry paste and tinned tomatoes? Or other spices?

Er, I think I have some tinned tomatoes. No curry paste!

I was hoping the chicken would come out nice and tender if it was baked in the sauce. Maybe I should just roast it (and the veg) and then pour the sauce over (?)

Rats, I really wanted it all to come out of the oven in a pan, looking and smelling nice!

I would never bake a curry in the oven, I would cook it in a saucepan on top of the oven.
no idea about Katsu curry, but the jars I use tell you what to do on the side of the jar

I dont know what's happened with that pic btw 😂😂

Hmm, I wasn't planning on breading the chicken either. I basically just wanted a nice mild curry sauce to bake the chicken and veg in! I was planning to have it with cauliflower, broccoli, sweet potato and squash (and peas on the side cooked separately), and rice.

Go to Wagamamas, order a chicken katsu curry and that will give you a good idea what it's supposed to be like 😁

Right, just done your googling for you.
, and have adapted the recipe to suit you

Bake your chicken and veg on a tray in the oven, I would toss in oil before baking.
Gently heat the katsu sauce in a small pan
cook the rice
cook the peas, I just add mine to the rice for the last couple of mins to save fuels and washing up
serve the chicken and veg. Add the rice and peas. Pour the katsu sauce over the chicken.

enjoy !

You could absolutely use it like a normal jar of curry sauce, as in brown off your chicken and onions, throw in veg and simmer until cooked. I don't usual put curries in the oven, and especially with this you want to cook it gently in case using like a jar of sauce starts to effect the texture at all.

The instruction won't guide you in this direction as that's not what a katsu curry is. As pp stated, it's a Japanese dish with the sauce drizzled over a breaded escalope of chicken / tofu etc served with rice and sometimes veg.

I've never baked a curry - just pan fry the meat and veg, add the sauce for the last 5 minutes

Thanks all.

Okay, the delivery has just arrived and using it like an oven cooking sauce clearly isn't going to work as there's hardly anything there!

I think the word "drizzling" as pp stated is the key!

Is this what you've bought? If so then I'd bake the vegetables (as sweet potato and squash won't stir fry well), stir fry the chicken, then add the vegetables and sauce at the same time to heat through. Though you said there's hardly anything there, and that seems a generous amount of spice for two, so have you got a paste instead.

Do you have tined tomatoes and a well-stocked spice rack? You could make mild curry if so.

Try Sharwoods Korma Mild Curry Sauce, delicious and very easy to use by simmering diced chicken breast or whole legs/thighs in it.
www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/250526427

Why would you bake a curry anyway?

You dont have to follow the rules or instructions on food in cans or sauce jars, use them flexibly if you want, they are already cooked so dont be put off if the instructions dont cover how you want to do the food

The only thing I would caution about is slow cooking, my OH insists on using jar curry sauces (which i dont eat) in the slow cooker and the jar sauces are not designed for such long cooking and they separate and go awful

Yes that's the one! I bought two sachets but even so the volume seems very small.

Sadly not. Tinned tomatoes and lots of out-of-date and odd herbs and spices (many of which came with the spice rack 20 years ago! ).

Thanks! I will try that next time I'm in the shops. For some reason it wasn't one of the options I could have delivered... it was either the Katsu sauce or tikka masala. Strange Waitrose!

My mum would say the same but I'm a terrible cook with no intuition. I'm okay at baking but that's only because I can follow instructions to the letter.
I don't have a slow cooker so that's one disaster I will be able to avoid.

@toastofthetown I will try that, thank you!

@bellac11 I do have an air fryer though... and apparently it is good at stir-fries (according to Which?). I've only done chips and fish fingers in it so far though.

Right then... well that was the dryest "curry" i have ever experienced. It could have used at least 4 sachets of sauce for the meal (2 chicken breasts and about 500g of veg—cauliflower, broccoli, squash, sweet potato and a green pepper). It all fit in the air fryer and I used about 3tbsp of oil. Room for improvement.
The sauce did smell nice though. I would also use an onion next time. Him indoors went back for seconds so it couldn't have been that bad I guess.

But, of course it was dry, you roasted a curry sauce?!