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?
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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.
My Japanese mother-in-law always adds ginger! Grated apples, ketchup, ginger, chicken buillon, and soy sauce. It always turns out AMAZING! I have made my own curry roux for years using S&B brand curry powder, but it is a bit too spicy for my children. I want to try your version and see if it will be a bit milder on the spiciness index!
Hi KayTots! When it comes to curry, we can change and adjust the flavors so everyone can make their own favorite curry! Maybe you can tone down on spice and add honey to make it more mild. 🙂
Would you change any of the preparation or cook time if using beef instead of chicken?
Hi Lucien! Yes and no, and it depends on what cut of beef you use. If you use thinly sliced beef, then sure, about same time. But if you decide to use stewed beef, maybe a bit longer…
Absolutely delicious! Only difference is that I added corn in the end and doubled the meat.
Hi Viktoria! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for trying it and for your kind feedback! xo
This recipe was amazing! My sister and I tried both the homemade and the store bought roux, though the homemade roux was much easier to make than expected it, it just fell a little short when compared to the store bought. The store bought had a bit more body and depth. I’m sure if anyone wants to tweak the recipe and find their perfect roux, it’s out there! But I like the store bought, so I’m gonna keep it simple. I paired it with Chicken Katsu and together I’m sure this dish could rule the world lol Again wonderful recipe, very excited to make this again and again!
Hi Crystal! Thank you for trying this recipe as well as homemade roux. I think it’s hard to beat a curry roux with MSG in it. 😀 I think using ingredients that contain MSG once in a while is okay, so I don’t mind using store-bought curry roux. It’s more convenient too. Thank you again!
Brilliant recipe, I and the Thai family loved this! Tailored perfectly, thank you! This is now the only way I will prepare Japanese Curry. I used pork in place of chicken, perfect. I lived in Japan for 13 years, I know a good curry, Golden Curry is one of the best (but not as good as JMSDF Curry, that is excellent). Thank you again for a great recipe, worthy of 10 stars.
Hi Lee! Thank you so much for your kind feedback, and I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe! Wow 13 years in Japan! Hope you continue to enjoy cooking Japanese food at home. 🙂
Thanks for this lovely recipe! If I use chicken breast, do you suggest I reduce the time?
Thank you!
Hi Truc! Make sure to use Sogigiri (https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/sogigiri/) cutting technique so the chicken breast is same thickness and cook faster. 🙂
Just curious but why the variation in amount of onions, carrots and potatoes with this recipe vs https://www.justonecookbook.com/simple-chicken-curry/ ?
Hi Jeremy! You can change as you like. I change up sometimes, more onions, sweeter the curry is, etc. 🙂
Hello Namiko,
Wonderful recipe that I will be trying very soon. I will be adding this so my site as well and will certainly provide a link to this recipe, and to your site. I will return and post my review after I prepare this, and I just know this will be very good! Thank you for the excellent recipe and brilliant site you have.
Hi Lee! Thank you for your compliments. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but you can’t copy and paste my recipe to your site and my images and contents are copyrighted. Google will give us penalty for that, so please do not take my recipe. You can use your pictures and link back to my website, but do not take my recipe or other contents from my site. Thank you! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Yes, I understand, I take my own photos when I prepare the dishes I make, and I rewrite all wording so nothing is the same 😉
This recipe looks easy and delicious. It will be my first time trying it in my Instant Pot Mini (I’m going to halve the recipe), although I’ve made it stovetop many times. However, I’m curious about the amount of broth used, as it is half the amount that the back of the curry box says. Is there something about the pressure cooker method that requires less water/broth? Thanks!
Hi again. I just scrolled through more of your previous comments and found an answer to my question about the liquid. That has set my mind at ease! I’m going to make it now, and will let you know how it turns out!
So I just made it, and it tasted better than any other one I made! I had to make a few alterations because of what ingredients I had on hand, but even so, it was still the best. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe. I’m going to use it every time now, since it’s so easy and tasty!
Hi Allison! I apologize for my late response. I was traveling in Japan and I couldn’t check my comments often. I’m glad you found the answer in previous comments. Thanks for checking the previous comments. And I’m so happy you liked this recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback. Enjoy using your IP mini!! xo
Thanks again. I made this recipe agian, this time exactly as written, and it was perfect!
Wonderful! Thank you Allison! 🙂
I think I’ve made my best Japanese curry yet using your recipe for the pressure cooker. Thank you so much!
Hi Manda! Really! I’m so honored, thank you so much for your kind feedback!
I made this this evening. It was fabulous! My daughter happened to be craving curry, too, and she loved it. Great flavor! Thank you!
Hi Debbie! I’m so happy to hear both of you enjoyed this dish! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Waiting for my curry to finish. I got confused about the 1 package when I remembered you said two packages. Watched the video and understood. Oh well, I’ll remember for next time. I’m a little nervous, I really like making veggie curry and rarely cook with chicken. We’ll see how it goes!
Hi Angela! Hope your curry came out well. I edited the instruction a bit, so it’s less confusing (hopefully). Thank you for trying this recipe!
It came out very well! Thank you for the recipe!
Thank you for your kind feedback, Angela! xo
Thank you for your awesome recipes!!
If I wanted to do beef instead for this recipe, may I ask what kind of changes you would implement?
Thanks!
Sorry, I just read the rest of the comments above, and I think I got my answers 🙂 Thanks again for the awesome recipes!
Hope you enjoy this recipe, John! Let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be happy to answer. 🙂
This was seriously so good. As good as my favorite Japanese restaurant. I used the Vermont Curry brand (which is made in japan and I don’t get the name lol)
Hi Jill! I’m glad you enjoyed this dish! So, the “Vermont” curry was named based on the apple cider vinegar + honey remedy that’s known in Vermont. Vermont curry promotes their curry with the apple and honey. Still funny reason, though!
Hi Nami!
I Finally got my instant pot and used this for my first recipe . I am in Alaska and today was a cold wet day so I thought curry would hit the spot and it did! i normally just follow the directions on the box but the extra steps with the potatoes really makes a difference! I did swap out ketchup for butter just because I realized when I started that I didn’t have it (used same amount). Will defiantly make this again soon!
Hi Nicole! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Hope you can make some variations with different condiments. 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback. xo