Dinner is solved on a busy weeknight with this easy and delicious Pressure Cooker Japanese Curry using an Instant Pot!
My Instant Pot has been saving me plenty of time cooking for my family’s dinner. It has so many conveniences, but my favorite part is I am also able to cook up complex dishes like this Pressure Cooker Japanese Curry without having to sacrifice the flavors.
The actual pressure cooking time is only 15 minutes, and you don’t even have to be in the kitchen if you use an electric pressure cooker. I simply add the ingredients in the pot, set up the timer, go out for my kids’ activity, and come home for a fabulous dinner ready to eat. Who’s in?
Japanese Curry Rice カレーライス
Have you heard of Japanese curry or Curry Rice (Karē Raisu)? If not, it’s best described as mild and thick curry. Even though curry was originally from Southeast Asia, it has become one of the most popular foods in Japan enjoyed by people of all ages.
Japanese curry is always served with steamed rice, and the common ingredients include a variety of proteins (chicken, beef, pork, seafood), potatoes, onions, and carrots.
To make Thai or Indian curry, you would add the curry spices from the very beginning. However, Japanese curry is seasoned with curry roux toward the end of cooking. Until then it’s just a plain soup/stew.
What is Japanese Curry Roux?
As I mentioned earlier, Japanese curry is seasoned with curry roux. Typically made from fat and flour, roux is a type of thickening agent used for thickening soups and sauces.
Most Japanese make curry with a boxed Japanese curry roux like this (picture above). You can find different spice levels and various brands of curry roux at Japanese or Asian grocery stores. These days I can even find it in the Asian aisle at American supermarkets.
If you prefer to make curry roux from scratch and have an additional 30 minutes to spare, check out my Homemade Curry Roux recipe. All you need is flour, butter, curry powder, and additional spice.
Personalize the Store-Bought Curry with Additional Seasonings
Growing up in Japan, curry rice was a “fast food” for my family; the food that my mom made ahead of time or the previous day when she knew that she couldn’t prepare dinner in time.
I always saw my mom adding grated apples and different condiments to the curry while she was making them. She said, “If you put just the boxed curry roux, your curry will always taste the same. It will not be different from your neighbor’s curry.”
So she taught me two tricks. Use two different brands of curry roux (sometimes mix the spice level, like mild and medium spicy) and use additional seasonings.
My mom and I would use the combination of the following ingredients.
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Butter
- Yogurt
- Grated apple
- Honey
- Red wine or sake
- Oyster sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Tonkatsu sauce
- Soy sauce (used in this recipe)
- Ketchup (used in this recipe)
Other ingredients that my mom or I haven’t added in our curry include peanut butter, marmalade, and banana. Do you add any additional flavoring to your Japanese curry?
Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Pressure Cooker Japanese Curry
Video
Ingredients
- 3 onions (large; 2¼ lb, 1,005 g)
- 1½ carrots (5 oz, 143 g)
- 3 Yukon gold potatoes (15 oz, 432 g)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice)
- 1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs (see Notes for substitutions)
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the Curry Sauce
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil (for cooking)
- 3 cups chicken stock/broth (for lower sodium, use water only or half stock and half water)
- 1 package Japanese curry roux (7–8 oz or 200–230 g; or make my Japanese Curry Roux)
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
For Serving
- 6 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- fukujinzuke (Japanese red pickled vegetables) (optional; or make my Homemade Fukujinzuke)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Please read my blog post about options for add-on condiments to season the curry sauce.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Cut 3 onions in half and cut each half into 5 wedges.
- Peel 1½ carrots and cut into bite-sized pieces. I use a Japanese cutting technique called rangiri. This cut creates more surface area, which helps the carrots absorb more flavor and cook faster. Tip: You can cut the vegetables slightly bigger to avoid a mushy texture.
- Peel 3 Yukon gold potatoes and cut them into quarters. Soak them in water for 15 minutes to remove the excess starch. Tip: Do not use russet potatoes since they would break down too easily.
- Mince 2 cloves garlic (I like this garlic press). Then, grate the ginger with a microplane zester or ceramic grater and reserve 1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice).
- Cut 1½ lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces. I use the sogigiri Japanese cutting technique to create more surface area and flatten each piece so it cooks faster. Season with ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper.
To Cook the Curry
- Press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot (I use a 6 QT Instant Pot) or preheat a stovetop pressure cooker over medium heat. When the inner pot is hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil.
- Then, add the onion wedges, minced garlic, and grated ginger with juice.
- Add the chicken pieces to the pot and mix until just coated with the oil.
- Add the carrots and potatoes to the pot and mix well.
- Add 3 cups chicken stock/broth and use a spatula to press down the meat and vegetables into the liquid. Then, place the cubes from 1 package Japanese curry roux (I combine half mild and half medium spicy packaged roux) on top of the other ingredients. DO NOT MIX! Otherwise, the roux may sink to the bottom of the pot and burn while cooking. For solidified homemade roux, place the cubes on top of the ingredients and do not mix. For non-solidified homemade roux (that you just made), add it after pressure cooking is done.
- Cover and lock the lid. Make sure the Instant Pot‘s steam release handle points to Sealing and not Venting. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button on the Instant Pot to stop sautéing. Then, press the Meat/Stew button to switch to pressure cooking. Press the “minus“ button to change the cooking time to 15 minutes.
- For a Stovetop Pressure Cooker: Close and lock the lid. Set the pressure level to high. Heat the pot on the stovetop over medium-high heat until you‘ve reached high pressure. Then, reduce the heat to medium low to maintain high pressure, and cook for 15 minutes.
- When it is finished cooking, the Instant Pot will switch automatically to the Keep Warm mode. Slide the steam release handle to Venting to let out steam until the float valve drops down, OR let the pressure release naturally (this takes about 15 minutes).
- Unlock the lid. (If you‘re using homemade curry roux, add it to the pot now and heat on Sauté mode for an additional 5 minutes until well blended into the stew.) Add 1 Tbsp ketchup and 1 Tbsp soy sauce now. Mix well, stirring to dissolve the curry roux and checking one last time that there are no undissolved chunks left. Tip: If you use my unsalted homemade curry roux, taste the curry sauce now and add salt to your liking. I recommend adding 2–4 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt, but this will vary based on the brand of the chicken broth and condiments you added.
To Serve
- Portion 6 servings cooked Japanese short-grain rice on individual plates and serve the curry on top. Serve with optional fukujinzuke (Japanese red pickled vegetables) on the side.
To Store
- Keep the leftovers in a glass airtight container and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month. The texture of the potatoes will change in the freezer, so remove them before freezing. Defrost the frozen curry in the refrigerator for 24 hours before you want to reheat it.
To Reheat
- Leftover curry sauce will thicken into a paste as it cools, so it tends to burn while reheating. To avoid this, stir ½ cup (120 ml) water or more into the leftover sauce until loosened. Then, gently reheat it on low heat. If the sauce seems thin, continue heating with the lid off to reduce the sauce.
Hey Nami,
I made this curry, without pressure cooker. (because I don’t have one :p)
This was the first time I ever made a Curry, (not the first time I ate it) And it was probably the best curry I have ever eaten. Although I have to admit that I forgot step 14.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, I loved it and I will definitely make it again.
-Hugo
Hi Hugo! I’m so happy to hear you tried this recipe. I have other curry recipes that does not use a pressure cooker (in case you didn’t know). 🙂 Thank you very much for writing kind feedback. I really appreciate it!
Hello!Can you sub water for chicken stock, will it still have enough flavor?
Hi Susan! You can, as Japanese curry roux box says you can use water. I’d say “enough” flavor but if you prefer rich flavor, I recommend chicken broth. 🙂
This was so good! Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for your kind feedback, Tiffany! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! I haven’t tried it yet, but since I just got an Instant Pot this year I’m always looking for new recipes – and this looks amazing. I used to make Japanese curry (with Golden Curry roux) often in college, but I haven’t had it since I had to start eating gluten free. I feel sad every time I pass it in the grocery store!
However I’m pretty sure I can adapt your curry roux recipe to work with gluten-free flour. (For some reason I never considered making it from scratch before.) I’m so excited!
Hi Josie! Someone left the comment in the roux post or maybe I received email that GF flour worked. Hope it’ll work for you too! 🙂 Enjoy your instant pot!
I made this recipe tonight and it was amazing!! My mom always went straight by the recipe on the back of the box, never varying, so as an adult I’ve tried only slight variations (like using sweet potato instead of white potato) but never veering too far. I love what your mom taught you, to improvise a bit and add some variation. I tried soy sauce and ketchup and it was great. And I love how easy it was in the instant pot! Thanks so much!
Hi Miyuki! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe. Thank you for trying out and writing your kind feedback here. 🙂
Try adding other ingredients to see which one is a must ingredient for your homemade curry. 🙂 Thank you again! xo
I used just the curry box roux by itself until I heard on an anime about using cola. We now use root beer and everyone thinks its 10 times better with it 🙂 although when they seem me adding it it freaks the out a little.
Hi Julia! Haha! Ok, that’s going to be my new addition! Thank you for sharing it with me and other JOC readers! 🙂
Dear Nami,
I LOVE YOUR SITE! I stumbled into your place while looking for information on instant pot.
Do you happen to know if instant pot can be operated in Japan? I am living in Japan by the way.
Hi Julia! Aww thank you!!! I’m so happy to hear you like my site. I saw Japanese Amazon is selling an instant pot (for 30,000 yen!). We should be able to use American products in Japan (but not vice versa due to wattage). 🙂
Hi Nami
First I enjoy reading your recipes.
I am going to make the Pressure Cooker Japanese Curry on Wednesday, but thought I’d prepare the roux today. The recipe calls for 8.4ozs (240g)of the curry roux, I just made the curry roux and the home made curry roux recipe only makes just over 2 ozs (60g). The curry roux recipe says it is good for 4 cups of liquid and the Japanese Curry recipe only calls for 3 cups chicken stock. So my question is do I need the 240g curry roux or will the 60g be enough?
Hi Sylvia! Thank you so much for reading my blog! Sorry for my late response. The homemade roux is for 4 cups of liquid. The store-bought roux and homemade roux are different, so don’t worry about the weight of roux. It should work for 4 cups of liquid. Once you cook, the sauce evaporates some liquid and you can work on consistency little bit too. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi Nami,
I love your recipes and I bought an IP and love it. I just made this tonight and it was delicious. I want to know if I can double the recipe? I have a 6 quart IP.
Thanks!
May
Hi May! Sorry for my late response. I’ve responded to you (since same email) above. I suggested 1.5 times, as doubling can be pretty close to max level. 🙂 I’m so happy you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Can you double the recipe if I’m using a 6 quart instant pot
Hi May! As you see in my picture, my curry is way below “Max” line of Instant Pot. So I think you can do 1.5 times, but not too sure about 2 x…. Just to be safe! 🙂
If you are doing the homemade curry roux do you add one full recipe in place of the blocks?
Thank you for the delicious looking recipe!
Hi Chrystalyn! Homamde curry is for 4 cups of liquid, and I use 3 cups here. I think it’ll be okay. If it’s too thick, add more stock/water. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
Aloha Nami!
I have to say that your recipes got me interested in the IP, and I finally picked one up when the DUO was an Amazon Prime Day deal.
I have one question on this recipe. I want to make it beef curry instead of chicken. Would it be better to use beef stock in place of the chicken stock?
Thank you again for introducing this great cooking device!
Mahalo!
Sean
Aloha Sean! I apologize for my late response. Awesome! I’m so happy you got an IP! I’ll be sharing more IP recipes toward fall/winter. 🙂
Yes, use beef stock instead of chicken. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe! I made it in my Instant Pot tonight and it is SO delicious!
Hi Christa! So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
I just made this (was my first time using the Instant Pot) and it came out amazing! I can’t believe how easy and fast it was! Arigatou! 🙂
Hi Eileen! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks so much for your kind feedback. I’ll be posting more instant pot recipes this fall and winter!
Hi Nami, I’m from Singapore but am living in Stuttgart, Germany. I LOVE your blog. I’ve tried so many of your recipes and they have become staples in our home. My son’s comfort food is your Chawanmushi with rice! When he’s not feeling well, that’s what he wants to eat. So thank you, from a grateful mum 🙂
I have one question about your curry recipe. Can it be made in a slow cooker?
Hi May! Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m happy to hear you like my recipes! Haha your son is so cute that he likes chawanmushi – it’s definitely comforting and soft on stomach. 🙂
Sure you can do that. I have never done it, but you will need to adjust the liquid amount as pressure cooker traps steam while cooking, slow cooker doesn’t. So you have to put more liquid in it. Please test the amount. And in the beginning please put the roux toward the end so it doesn’t get burnt. 🙂