Fresh Tomato Chicken Curry with Chicken Breast: Remaking a Well-Received Test Curry with Breast Meat

The ingredients are chicken breast, onion, fresh tomato, garlic and ginger (10g each). You could technically make it with canned or whole peeled tomatoes, but Ryuji says fresh is better. The fresh tomatoes were ordered online, and Ryuji rates them as "seriously delicious."

As the major difference from the earlier test version, Ryuji points out that this one uses a proper amount of oil. That means it isn't a "super slimming curry," but it is still much healthier than an ordinary curry made with curry roux, they say. When a staff member asks whether that means it's "Indian-style," Ryuji answers, "a fusion of India and Japan." Because of the oil, Ryuji thinks it's tastier than last time.

The test version was highly rated by the staff, with some saying it might be the best of all the curries Ryuji has made. Ryuji also says it's a recipe they want lots of people to make.

What the staff were served with the test batch was basmati rice. So this time it's made with basmati rice again, but Ryuji repeatedly stresses that they don't want to raise the bar, so they won't push it, and Japanese rice is fine too.

According to Ryuji, basmati rice doesn't cost much more per gram than ordinary rice. Ryuji says they buy all their rice online. The main reason they recommend basmati rice is that it's cooked by boiling. Ryuji explains that boiling removes about half the carbohydrates, and says it's popular right now because it's light and healthier than ordinary rice. The staff member responds that they personally prefer it.

It's often said that you should soak it first, but Ryuji finds that tedious and boils it as is. That works fine, and since it turns out delicious with just 15 minutes of boiling, Ryuji hopes this will get a lot of people hooked.

The ginger was old and its skin had dried out, so Ryuji scraped the skin off. Dried skin affects the texture; with fresh ginger, they'd use it skin and all. The garlic and ginger are minced. These serve as the spice element besides the curry powder. This time there's no yogurt, which is "a hassle."

The onion (300g this time) doesn't need to be minced. If you slice it across the grain, it cooks down quickly. Being told to mince it makes the recipe much harder all of a sudden, Ryuji says. Regular onions weren't available, so they used new-season onions, but regular onions are fine. Ryuji thinks Indian curry, which doesn't use flour, is way easier than ordinary curry.

About 150–200g of tomato is the guideline; this time it was one tomato (about 150g), cut into rough chunks. It loses its shape as it simmers, but its umami goes fully into the curry. This is the source of the umami. The curry has no additives, and since the chicken releases its umami, it turns out delicious even with breast meat, Ryuji says.

The chicken breast is cut in half and then into bite-size pieces. Cutting them slightly smaller helps them cook faster. The thick parts are cut once more. Breast meat gets tough if overcooked, which is what the staff member was worried about. The skin is used as well. If you don't use it, it just gets thrown away, so the idea is that it's better to make use of the skin's umami too. On choosing between thigh and breast, Ryuji puts it this way: thigh if you want tenderness and juiciness, breast if you want something healthier. They like both.

Since you get tomato and onion and it's nutritionally well balanced, Ryuji says there's no particular need for a side dish.

At one point, the conversation turned to how a staff member had tried to order biryani for delivery, found it cost about 2,000 yen, and gave up. Ryuji guessed it might be expensive because of the effort of cooking the rice, and said their own biryani recipe stands far above the rest in both ease and flavor.

The basmati rice is boiled alongside the curry. Ryuji adds salt to the water. Some people boil it at around 3%, but Ryuji uses a little over 1%, a slightly saltier concentration than for pasta. This seasons the rice. The staff member realized this was why the rice had been seasoned in the test batch.

Ryuji calculates 80g per serving. It looks like less than ordinary rice, but basmati grains are large and absorb water, swelling to about three times their size, so even 80g makes a very generous portion, they say. This time 160g is used for two servings.

Once the water boils, add the rice and boil over medium-high heat for 15–20 minutes. Then drain it in a colander and let it steam for a bit, and it's done. It's faster than cooking ordinary rice and lower in carbohydrates, so Ryuji says it's very good as far as they're concerned. The staff member asks for more basmati rice recipes. Ryuji answers that they plan to make more, while adding that they also want people to eat Japanese rice, and that it's something completely different from basmati rice.

The drained rice is not rinsed with water. That would cool it down, and rice is best piping hot, Ryuji says.

Put 3 tablespoons of rice bran oil in a frying pan and sauté the garlic and ginger over high heat. Cooking them until lightly browned gives a deep aroma. But be careful, because burning them makes them bitter. Once they're faintly brown, the aroma has fully come out. Ryuji notes that 3 tablespoons is for 2–3 servings, so it isn't really that much oil.

Next, add the onion and sauté over high heat. The chicken doesn't go in yet. The reason for cooking the onion well is to avoid a long simmering time. Chicken gets tough if simmered too long, but doesn't release its flavor if not simmered enough. Ryuji calls this balance "tricky." Sauté until the onion is no longer crisp and the whole thing looks soft and limp, as if it had been stewed.

Ryuji says it's a good curry for people trying to lose weight too. It's so satisfying you wouldn't think it was healthy, they say.

Once the onion is cooked down, add the chicken breast, then the fresh tomato, and sauté a little. Since moisture comes out, you only need to add a small amount of water. With breast meat, about 100cc. With thigh meat the simmering time is longer, so 120cc might be fine, they say.

For seasoning, on the assumption that you'll adjust later, use 2/3 teaspoon of salt plus 1 tablespoon of fish sauce. Ryuji uses Tiparos fish sauce, which gives a deep flavor as if you'd added stock. Right after it goes in, the fishy aroma is quite strong, but that later becomes really delicious, they say. Ordinary fish sauce also makes it delicious. If you don't have fish sauce, salt is fine, but the umami will be lacking, so in that case Ryuji suggests 3–4 shakes of Ajinomoto. With the umami of the onion and chicken plus fish sauce, there's plenty of umami, about the same as using an umami seasoning, they say.

Fish sauce and tomato go well together. Ryuji mentioned that they also have a recipe for tomato sauce made with fish sauce ("Serious Fresh Tomato Pasta"). When the staff member relayed that many viewers had commented that they "trusted [Ryuji] and bought fish sauce," Ryuji replied, "You can trust me," and said that since the channel is in its eighth year, it's fine to do something a bit more elaborate.

Finally, add 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons (5 teaspoons' worth) of curry powder. The curry powder used this time is "Indian Curry." Simmer in this state for 10 minutes.

During the 10 minutes of simmering, Ryuji kept stirring with a spatula the whole time, but notes that this is just a personal habit and you don't need to copy it; you can just put the lid on and leave it. Ryuji says they love enjoying how the flavor deepens as it simmers. It starts out tasting fresh and deepens the longer it simmers, which they describe as being like a course meal. Tasting while cooking is a meal in itself for them, a reward for the person cooking. Something simmered and something not simmered taste completely different, and that change is fascinating, they say. Ryuji also says curry is a dish made by feel, and that they love improvised cooking. At one point they joke to the staff, "You're totally weirded out, aren't you."

The heat is medium, with the lid slightly ajar so moisture can evaporate as it simmers. Too much liquid left in makes the curry taste weak. Ryuji noted that "medium heat" on an induction cooktop varies by model, so viewers should go by the heat level visible in the video.

Partway through simmering, it's still watery, and the staff member says it "doesn't look like curry." According to Ryuji, this thickness doesn't so much come from simmering as from the vegetables being naturally thick to begin with. Adding flour would mean it's no longer Indian curry, they also say.

Partly because new-season onions were used this time, the curry turned out on the thin side. So for the last 2 minutes, the lid was removed to cook off moisture. The finished result had "about this much thickness," as Ryuji put it, and the whole thing looked like curry. Some people might want it thicker, but at this consistency it goes down easily, they say. Indian curry would normally use spices, but this time they kept it simple with curry powder. Ryuji explains that the method is basically that of Indian curry.

As for the texture of the breast meat, Ryuji personally quite likes simmered chicken breast. On the other hand, some people are bound to dislike the dryness, and in that case Ryuji says to make it with thigh meat.

Serve the basmati rice and pour the curry over it. The ingredients are in big, chunky pieces. Ryuji introduced it as, in their view, the fresh tomato Indian curry that makes chicken taste its very best.

The staff member who tried it said, "Breast meat is totally fine." Ryuji also says the breast meat is light and tasty. The salt has been reduced from last time, and the staff member says they felt last time was a little saltier. Ryuji added that if it's not enough, you can add a light shake of salt. The two agree that no umami seasoning is needed.

Asked which was tastier, last time's thigh-meat version or this one, the staff member hesitated, saying "they're both delicious," before answering that it might be this one since they like breast meat. Ryuji says it may be the top of their curry recipes. The staff member said that eating this made them realize it's better than the standard home-style curry.

There's a fair amount of curry powder in it, so it has some heat, but "Indian Curry" curry powder is less spicy than S&B, Ryuji says. Made with S&B, it apparently gets quite spicy. As for the tomato, they say adding it was the right call, as it brings a refreshing quality.

While eating, Ryuji said they feel basmati rice isn't essential. The curry doesn't taste all that intensely Indian, so they think it would be plenty delicious with Japanese rice too. If you don't have basmati rice, just make it with two servings of ordinary rice. However, unlike salt-boiled basmati rice, Japanese rice isn't seasoned with salt, so they add that it's a good idea to add another shake of salt to the curry. Ryuji's explanation is that when the rice is seasoned, the whole dish comes together better.

80g of basmati rice is quite a lot, but unlike ordinary rice, it goes down easily, Ryuji says. The staff member also likes that basmati rice is tasty even when it's cold. They then requested that next time Ryuji make gapao with basmati rice. Gapao is among their top three favorite foods, they say. Ryuji replied that they haven't released a chicken breast gapao yet.

At the end, Ryuji and the staff member reflected on the fact that the only seasonings used this time were salt, fish sauce and curry powder. The staff member says that if something stripped down this far can be this delicious, it makes you wonder what all the curry until now was about. Ryuji rated it a good recipe that provides both protein and vegetables, and said they want to spread the word about how good basmati rice is. To wrap up, Ryuji encouraged viewers to make two servings with Japanese rice if they like, and, for those who can, to try it once with basmati rice.