A number of influences have bought about this version of Inspiration- A Curry Blog, the first being a good friend of mine who follows the blog and says "I wish I could cook some of this, it all looks delicious, however my girls wont eat spicy food. What can I cook for my kids?". As such I put some thought into it and remembered a curry i used to eat as a kid. Every time I went to the grocery store with mum I would dig around for a packet of Vesta Curry and Rice and make her buy a couple. This would be in reserves for when I came home to find boiling potatoes, carrots and pumpkin on the stove and lamb chops under the grill. Vesta Curry and Rice disappeared off the grocery shelves a long time ago, in fact for a while I could only find it in regional stores, usually a Coles on the northern NSW coast, however I often think fondly of it.It was nothing fancy really a sachet of dehydrated beef and veggies with a powdered sauce - just add boiling water.The flavor is actually similar to the Japanese curries that are gaining popularity across Australia at the moment, now appearing in a Westfield Food Court near you. So naturally when I thought of curries for kids; I started with Vesta Curry and Rice, which led me to Japanese Chicken Curry Don and then to an investigation into how to produce this unusual curry, which I believe will be enjoyed by young children. Other than my boy of course who decided he just wanted a can of baked beans poured over his rice.

A search of the Internet lead me to many Japanese curry recipes, all of which directed me to ingredients that included "Curry Powder" and "Curry Sauce Sachet". Knowing everyone would be disappointed with that I started to experiment with my own version of Japanese / Vesta Beef Curry and Rice and this is what I created. So as to not leave you in suspense, surprisingly this was very tasty and very closely approximated what I set out to produce. As for presentation, well, I guess you really need an assortment of artificial colors and congealing agents, that come in the specially prepared cubes of "Curry Sauce Mix". I guess this is why I have no pictures or recipes for Japanese Beef Curries in my library.

A beef curry Japanese style appears, for all intents and purposes, a traditional English beef stew with a curry powder added in the form of a curry roux. So in order to prepare one of these curries you have a number of goals.

1. Obtain a curry powder that will produce the flavor your trying to achieve
2. Turn that curry powder into a roux
3. Prepare a beef stew
4. Turn that beef stew into a curry by adding the curry roux

Curry Powder

This recipe is by no means the best possible recipe, it is just one of many that could be used, alternatively Keens curry powder would do the trick quite nicely.

Take equal portions of Cumin Seed, Corriander and Cardamon Seeds, 6-12 dry chillies and dry fry in a pan until aromatic, then grind in a spice or coffee grinder with an one and a half portions of turmeric powder. Store in a dry sealed container.

Curry Roux

A roux is really just a sauce base made from oil / fat and flour that can be supplemented with any flavor you like; in this case Curry flavor. Take 25 grams of butter and melt in a pot, remove from the heat and mix in one and a half table spoons of flour, two teaspoons of curry powder and a quarter of a teaspoon of white pepper. Once thoroughly mixed return to the heat and continue to stir until the consistency changes to a thick paste, however not long enough to allow the mixture to brown. Approximately 1 minute. 

Beef Curry

Dice 500g of beef, 3 medium carrots, 2 medium potatoes, 1 onion and 1 banana. Gently fry the onion in a pan with a little oil until it begins to caramalise (which adds sweetness to the curry) then increase the heat and brown the beef. Add the banana, carrot and potato along with 1 liter of beef stock, a handful of sultanas and 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce and simmer gently until the potatoes are soft. Take the Curry roux, mix with a little cold water and pour it into the stew mixing as to go until the stew thickens.   Service with rice, and for the die hard chili fan a splash Tabasco Sauce over the top goes amazingly well. 

For the full recipe see Japanese Beef Curry