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.
Notes
Nutrition
Other Instant Pot Recipes
Hi Nami,
Thanks for the recipe. My curry turned out melt-in-your mouth good. I’ve made it before but only on a stove top where I left the pot simmering until the curry thickened.
Unfortunately, the one issue I had with making this in the IP was that the curry did not thicken at all. What might I have done wrong? Any suggestions to thicken the gravy?
Thanks.
Suchitra
Hi Suchitra! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! Remember, pressure cooker traps the steam/liquid, so no liquid will evaporate while cooking. Therefore, the liquid amount provided in this recipe was tested and measured correctly so it won’t be “loose curry”.
However, this changes if you adapt the amount of vegetables or type of vegetables as some may contain more moisture. If you make the curry exactly the same way you made today (with same ingredients), reduce the stock next time. You can always add the liquid later on if the curry is thick. BUT if you reduce the amount of liquid significantly, add the curry roux later on so the roux doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and burn. When it has enough liquid and roux stays float, it won’t happen. 🙂
Hope this helps!
Hi Nami!
I’m raised in the Philippines, lived in Japan for 8 years and recently moved to San Diego California. I bought my instant pot 2 mos ago but have not tried to use it in cooking Japanese dishes! So thank you for this. My fiancee absolutely loves Japanese Curry. I have a few questions for this recipe.
Id like to add grated apple. When do you think is the best time to do that following this recipe?
Also, is it necessary to use both chicken stock and store bought roux? Whenever I cook Curry (stovetop) I only use water when using store bought roux. I accidentally used chicken stock one time and it turned out really salty.
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Mela 🙂
Hi Mela! I hope your fiance will enjoy this recipe! Here are my answers to your question.
1) You always add toward the end, so after pressure cooking, you can add in. 🙂
2) Nope! I have homemade roux recipe here (https://www.justonecookbook.com/how_to/how-to-make-curry-roux/). I don’t make chicken stock (as I mostly use dashi and rarely use chicken broth). You can use water instead as it has lots of flavors. The chicken stock that I use is from Trader Joe’s and it’s not salty like some of chicken stocks in a can or some other brands. However, feel free to use water instead. 🙂
Hope you enjoy!
Why does this recipe differ from your other curry recipe not in a pressure cooker?
Hi Jessica! I have several curry recipes on my site and every one of them is different. I cook slightly differently based on ingredients or cooking method. 🙂 For example, this pressure cooker recipe requires much less liquid as pressure cooker trap steam inside and won’t evaporate. 🙂
https://www.justonecookbook.com/?s=curry
Ohhhh. I love the simple chicken curry recipe with Apple and honey – will that work in the pressure cooker too?
Hi Jessica! Sorry about my late response. It’ll work, but you’ll need to test how much liquid and curry roux is necessary for pressure cooking. 🙂
Thanks, Nami!
Love the recipe! When I mixed the curry roux at the end, the chicken and potato started shredding. Do you have any tips on how to avoid that? Thank you!
Hi Emily! Thanks for trying my recipe! You should be mixing the roux and broth in the ladle first so that you won’t be breaking the ingredients. Just like how you would dissolve miso in the ladle and not directly in the broth. That way, your mixing motion is only in the ladle. 🙂
I made this today with gluten free roux I threw together last night with your roux recipe. It turned out fantastic and both my parents are in love and want me to make it regularly. I was so excited to see that you used an Instant Pot. We have the same exact one and it makes cooking dishes very easy for our household. I look forward to making more of your recipes!
Hi Corinne! I’m so happy to hear that and thank you so much for letting me know that GF roux works!! Yes, I love my Instant Pot and try to share more recipes using it (but not just IP as many don’t have it… 🙂 ). Thank you for following my blog! xo
Hi Nami,
Love this recipe! I’ve tried it few weeks ago and we all love it at home. Tonight’s dinner I would like to use beef instead of chicken. How long shall I cook it for using the Meat/Stew function?
Thanks!
Sheena
Hi Sheena! Thank you for trying this recipe! I’m so happy to hear everyone enjoyed it. I’m so sorry I couldn’t respond to your question fast enough (dinner time is passed…). 10-15 mins is good if it’s a cube shape. 🙂
I just got on your website by pinterest and… WOW… this is amazing!!
I really would like to try and cook everything ^^
Japanese curry is one of the dishes I’m use to cook but I’ve never tried to do my own curry roux. I can’t wait to do it!
Thank you so much for sharing all those recipes
Hi Audrey! So happy to hear you came from Pinterest! Pinterest is usually filled with western food, so I am always excited to hear someone click my recipe on PInterest. 🙂
It’s fun making own curry – you can make it as you like, and it’s preservative and all that stuff free. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words and hope you enjoy making Japanese food!
Hi Nami
I purchased the Instant Pot because I saw you using it. It’s a great pot. I tried your Instant Pot Curry Chicken recipe and I have to tell you that it was delicious. The only thing that I need to change next time is to use 2lbs of chicken and cut the pieces larger. There was so much sauce left. Other than that, I appreciate you sharing your recipes. Thank you.
Dennis
Hi Dennis! Aww thanks for trying this recipe! Instant Pot is great, and it really helps my lifestyle as I tend to be busy in the evening with the kids being with me. Did you increase the amount of liquid or maybe other ingredients? I don’t remember having so much sauce left… but maybe we pour more sauce over the rice. As long as the chicken will be submerged in water (required amount), it should work just fine. So happy you liked it! Thank you so much for your feedback!
That’s a very nice story about your mum and you. I often like to be imaginative with curry as well because (of the same reasons that you said) it’s pretty boring without any unique texture to the taste. The addition of other to curry has always made it more different. Although not restricted to Japanese Curry I have made curry containing (just to name a few, to give you more ideas to your list 😉 ):
Canned peaches in own juice
Braebun/Cox apples with coconut cream
Banana with yogurt
Blueberries – the best one ever I guarantee!
I want to improve a tomato curry that I once made so the flavoring is right. Making a curry with peanut butter is also on my list for April! There are also other ideas I want to trial (the list is fairly long) as I’m confident that with the right combination of ingredients to the curry they would work as well!
I have seen a few videos of you using the instant pot, and I’m likened to that tool in the way you use it and how you tell it has helped with your busy life! My life has become since the start of this year more busy than ever (right now I haven’t really been home for almost 5 weeks for work and haven’t had much time to cook unfortunately), and seeing that my life may get busy even when I should be at my home city where I work I should consider getting such a pot at some stage. Currently I can still manage to cook a meal regularly, and when not I make extra more for leftovers to take with me.
I heard the audio on the video. It really adds color to the filming and even extra stimulus to get someone cooking! At least I think so! The audio quality was also decent. I only noticed that neither on your post or your YouTube video you mentioned what audio equipment you (and your husband) used. Could I ask what audio recording equipment you used?
ありがとうございます！
HI Leo! I LOVE your experiment with secret ingredients! Wow how creative you are! If I eat your curry, I wouldn’t be able to tell what your secret ingredient would be. 🙂
Instant Pot is so awesome. It was given by the company so I actually didn’t choose on my own, but I’m glad I received it. I didn’t have a slow cooker or pressure cooker, so having both in one gadget really saved a space in my kitchen! And I’m totally hooked on pressure cooker… so easy to make meat dishes!
Thank you so much for your feedback on my audio for the video! Oops I forgot to put the link in the youtube description box…
This is the one we use: http://amzn.to/1Tmi58m
Nice recorder – I know that the company Rode makes good audio recording devices so you definitely have a good one in operation!
Thank you for the details of your experience with the Instant Pot! I will keep it in mind when I should purchase one, and to begin with I’ll try out some of your recipes beforehand to get a feel of your experience with the Pot 😉
Also thank you for your kind words! 😀
Once I should start an own blog – currently I’m still learning about how I may run and operate a personal webpage in the future parallel to my life now – I hope that everyone can enjoy some of my recipes like many people love your recipes!
Hi Leo! Let me know when you start your blog! 🙂
I”m no food expert, but I remember hearing that Japanese curry was introduced through English cooking/recipes. There is no resemblance between Japanese curry and it’s precursors from India and SE Asia, but there is a similarity with the curry served at the western-style restaurants in the Meiji period which is where it probably started from–like ハヤシライス.
BTW: I’m glad to have found your site. I was looking for カステラ and came across your J1CB.
Hi Leo! The way Japanese make curry is the same way as English method as we make it with “curry powder” and that’s how we learned from England back then! So happy to hear you found my blog from Castella recipe. 🙂 Welcome!!
Hi Nami,
I recently bought the IP, but have only made rice with it. When you use the IP to make curry or other recipes, do you use a rice cooker to make rice? I was hoping I could get away from buying another household appliance.
By the way, the combination of condiments you use for curry are quite unique! I’ve only used coconut milk so far. ^_^
Hi Candice! How did the rice come out using an instant pot? I have never cooked rice before because I usually cook the main dish in the instant pot, so I still need to use my rice cooker to make rice. 🙂 If you don’t want to purchase a rice cooker, here’s what you can do. You make extra rice, immediately after it’s done cooking (while it is still have nice texture of rice), you transfer to an individual (or 2 servings, depends on your household needs) glass container which has a lid. You immediately cover the lid to keep the moisture. When it’s cool down, you store in the freezer. You use your instant pot to cook main dish, and defrost the rice with your microwave (for individual portion, 2 to 2.5 minutes with 1400W). Steamed rice that was frozen is equally delicious than freshly made. Never keep your cooked rice in your fridge. It’ll be dry (great for fried rice though). Hope this trick will be helpful. I freeze rice all the time. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thank your for the rice tip and your response to my question. It feels like F-O-R-E-V-E-R since I talked to you. =P
The rice actually came out fine using the IP. I honestly can’t tell the difference between using an IP or rice cooker. I do know my mom’s not a big fan of the IP to cook rice because she says cleaning the IP is a pain. She says there’s a lot more to wash versus a regular rice cooker.
Hi Candice! It’s good to talk to you! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know about rice cooked in IP. I think because it’s stainless steel, rice tends to stick on the bottom, which is why I don’t want to use it… =P I think rice cooker does an excellent job with timer and everything, and I can’t live without it…and I use it everyday! 😀
Hi Nami,
You’re correct about the rice sticking to the bottom of the IP. I completely forgot. In any case, I may have to invest in a new rice cooker soon. =)
Hi Nami,
I have made rice in the insta pot without issue. It’s extremely important to rinse the rice! OK actually wash the rice. And I was taught by my Korean friends to freeze it. So l make a big batch 😎
Yay thanks Nami, I got an instant pot very similar to yours for Christmas after watching you use it on previous videos. Can’t say I’ve used it much but I will definitely be giving this a try.
I would love more one pot videos.
Xx
Hi Linda! Yay for Instant Pot! 🙂 Don’t worry, you’ll have more chances to use it in the future! Hope you like this recipe! And yes, hoping to add more Japanese Instant Pot recipes in the future!
Do recommend using chicken broth if I use beef or pork? Or should I use beef broth?
Thank you!
Hi Monica! If it’s beef, I would use beef. I don’t really make pork curry… but you can use chicken or chicken + water (so less chicken taste). 🙂
I am vegetarian, so I was wondering what I could use instead of chicken. I know that people like the combination curry with chicken, so I was wondering whether there is a great vegetarian alternative.
Hi Joy! I’m always happy with all kinds of vegetables in the curry. I’d put kabocha, eggplant, okra and zucchini… anything, really! I guess you could add tofu too, but if you do, you’ll have to add it at the end, just to heat up. So tofu won’t be crumbled. Hope this helps!
How long will you need if you put Kabocha in it?
Hi Bo! Kabocha is a bit tricky. If you cook too long, it gets mushy and pasty. So cut into bigger pieces and maybe shorten cooking time a bit?
If I want to use your liquid roux recipe, how much would I add? It seems unclear, since you refer to cubes.
Hi Megan! It should require the entire homemade roux for this recipe. The homemade roux is for 3-4 cups liquid/broth (for making the curry).
This is SO delicious. Way better than the curry I had been making before! I was worried that 3 onions would be a lot but after trying it I now understand. The instant pot makes the onions so soft it just melts right into the curry and gives it so much flavor! I used sweet onions for this recipe so it adds a slight sweetness balanced with the saltiness from the curry roux. The chicken also came out soft and not overcooked. Thank you so much for this amazing recipe Nami!
Hi Lin! I’m so happy to hear that you tried this recipe and enjoyed it. Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad it came out well! 🙂
Does the bottom burn at all? The manual says not to cook sauces or stews with a thick consistency. I’ve never done curry in the pressure cooker because of that.
Or is that just precautionary and most sauces of curry consistency are fine?
Hi Nicci! No, not at all!!! This is the great part. I tried both adding roux before and after pressure cooking, and both worked just fine. As long as you don’t drop the roux to the bottom of the soup/ingredients, you’ll be fine. You see my curry roux floating on top when I close the lid? That’s how I leave it before pressure cooking. When you open the lid, cubes are gone, and you just have to mix it so curry roux is evenly spread out. 🙂
I think, it’s probably not good idea if the roux is already thicken. But with this method, the curry won’t get thicken until pretty last minute of 15 minutes, so it’s really fine.
Hope you give it a try!
I’ve made this multiple times and got the burn sign today, twice. I ended up having to switch to stovetop to finish it. I think I didn’t deglaze well after sauteing and then when I tried to salvage it the first time I made it worse because the curry blocks ended up getting mixed in. Lesson learned!
Hi Shawna! Yes, you cannot mix the roux – (it’s important so I mentioned in the recipe with bold text at step 11). Alternatively, you can add the roux later after pressure cooking is done. However, the hard cubes of the roux is harder to mix in without breaking potatoes, so I suggest to place the cubes of roux on top and let it dissolve naturally (it won’t reach to the bottom). 🙂
I love your Japanese curry recipe and being able to make it in 15 minutes in a pressure cooker is a very compelling reason for me to get one! Great recipe!
Hi Monica! It is! I love cooking meat and soup/stew dishes in my pressure cooker. It just fits my lifestyle where I do cooking sort of last minute… 😀 Thank you so much for reading this post! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe at least 3 times already with roux blocks and let me just tell you that the consistency is perfect each time, whereas my curry was always too thick on the stovetop. I will say that our family likes the taste not as strong, so we only add half the box of roux blocks, and after the soy sauce and ketchup it is perfect. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!
Hi Mary, We are glad to hear you enjoy Japanese curry! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami!
The second dish I used my Instant Pot for was Japanese beef curry, the day after your anko! I did everything except the roux so it took a bit longer but look forward to trying your method.
Sometimes when I cook curry stovetop I add coconut milk as well as water. I think it’s “lick the plate clean” good. =)
Hi Rumi! Awesome! We think alike. 🙂 I actually tried both with roux and without roux. I was happy to find out that we could add roux prior to pressure cooking! It’s one less hassle to make sure to dissolve each cube. Pressure cooker dissolved all the pieces and I had to just mix it after I opened the lid. It doesn’t even burn on the bottom because the roux is on the top most of the cooking time, I think. Coconut milk is so delicious. I haven’t used it to make “Japanese” curry. I’ll definitely give it a try!