Chicken with katsu sauce

First of all I have to apologise for the photo - I didn't get one which really shows the sauce and it all looks a bit unclear and messy - I think I was just far too excited about eating it to worry about the photo! I got this from Lisa Faulkner's book again, and just like the macaroni and cheese dish from her book (here), it was very yummy! The sauce was mild which was perfect for me considering I don't like spicy food, although it did leave my mouth feeling hot. The sauce was also nice and sweet from the apple, it tasted so delicious mixed in with the wholegrain rice. And last but not least, the chicken! Who doesn't love crispy chicken!? It really is so simple to breadcrumb your own chicken and actually quite fun dipping it in the egg etc. It was perfectly moist chicken with crunchy crumbs, which complimented the smooth sauce and soft rice brilliantly. I was very weary about cooking this because I have never made any type of curry sauce in my life and had no clue of the consistency it was meant to be or anything - I still don't know if I did it right, but my boyfriend really loved it and suggested that next time there should be more sauce. So either he's just greedy with sauce, or I made it too thick haha...

Serves 4 (I halved it)
- 4 chicken breasts
- seasoned flour, for dusting
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 75-100g dried breadcrumbs
- oil, for frying
- wholegrain rice, to serve

For the sauce
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 1/2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 200ml chicken stock
- 200ml water
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 small apples, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
- salt & pepper

1. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened and slightly brown. Add the turmeric, curry powder and ketchup and stir. Add the stock, water, soy sauce and grated apple, season with salt & pepper, and simmer for 20 minutes.
2. Add the cornflour paste and cook for a further 2 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

3. Blend with a hand blender or food processor until smooth and set aside until needed.

4. Meanwhile, wrap the chicken in cling film and flatten with a rolling pin.

5. Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in 3 separate shallow dishes. Dust each chicken breast with flour, dip in egg, and coat in breadcrumbs.

6. Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken over a medium heat for about 7 minutes each side until cooked through. Don't forget to boil or microwave some rice!

7. Reheat the katsu sauce gently and serve with the chicken and rice. I served with broccoli as well.

Enjoy :)