Ananth

I've never dreamt of cooking anything, much less cooked it from dream-memory - but Yuko has! When she dreamt of pumpkin and chicken curry, John and I demanded that she make it. It cooked in the crock pot all day, filling the house with dream-smells, and then when evening rolled around we had dream-supper. We ate it out of real bowls with real spoons. On a 1 to 10 Magic scale, it was about an 8. 

Phoenix Down shirts are up in the store! Take a look!  For those of you that ordered, we'll be shipping in the next couple of days. Sorry again for the delay - been laid up in bed.

Yuko

Man, you fellas are really on about this curry thing.  I'm going to be honest, the Chicken-And-Pumpkin curry wasn't nearly as good as the beef curry I usually make.  So, I'm just going to give you the regular beef recipe.  Really.  It's so much better.

I make regular Japanese-style curry.  It's what my folks make, and it's the only variation of curry I know how to do.  If you're going to make Japanese style curry, this is really all you need:

S&B Brand Golden Curry.  It's full of salt, oil, curry spices, flour, salt, and lots of MSG.  I am not going to make any pretense that it is good for you.  It is not.  But it is also delicious.  This or something similar can be found in the International Aisle of most supermarkets.  I use a 4 quart slow cooker and will use a whole 8.4oz. box.  Sometimes a bit of another box.  (for vegetarians: I'm pretty certain that there are no meat products in the ingredients)

Here is my regular recipe for curry.  This makes enough curry for maybe 5 or more hungry people, with leftovers.  This is an excellent "bachelor" recipe.  It's quick to put together, you don't have to watch it, you really can't overcook it unless you're trying... there are not many ways to mess this up.

INGREDIENTS:
(x1) 8.4 oz. box S&B Golden Curry (I also keep another partial box on hand in case the flavor is too mild)
(x1) medium sized onion, cut into eighths or smaller
(x~3) russet potatoes or whatever potatoes you want, peeled and cut into large bite-sized chunks
(x~3) large carrots, peeled and cut into large bite-sized chunks
(x1) beef chuck roast, or whatever boneless meat you can get ahold of.  Do not trim the fat, or trim it minimally.  Cut into large bite-sized chunks.
A splash of milk or cream toward the end of cooking, if I feel like it.

NOTE: My group of friends-- save Ananth-- are big meateaters.  The beef is the most popular part of the curry.  I buy the biggest, fattiest, cheapest roast I can (~4lbs if I can).  Do not worry about the fat, it'll melt into the stew after 6-8 hours of cooking.

INSTRUCTIONS:
PUT EVERYTHING INTO THE SLOW COOKER.  COVER WITH JUST ENOUGH WATER TO COVER THE INGREDIENTS.  LEAVE IT ON LOW.  GO TO WORK.  COME BACK 6-8 HOURS LATER.  STIR. EAT.  YOUR HOUSE WILL SMELL LIKE CURRY FOR DAYS.

If you want, you can eat the curry plain.  Traditionally, you eat the curry over Japanese sticky rice.  But you can also put the curry over regular white rice, ramen noodles, spaghetti, or whatever else you might want.

For the Chicken-And-Pumpkin curry, I cut three chicken breasts into chunks, and microwaved, peeled, and basically puréed some acorn squash (pumpkin isn't in season :/ ) and then followed the same instructions as the beef curry.  The problem was that the curry overpowered the acorn squash - it more or less tasted like regular chicken curry.

I'm going to say again, beef curry is seriously much better.  Beef fat makes the stew much richer.  Also, you don't have to stay on this recipe.  Feel free to add things like tomatoes, frozen vegetables, eggplant, plain yogurt, coconut milk, fruits, nuts, whatever to curry.  There's no right way to make it.

This is totally the wrong season for it, but this is an ideal winter meal.  It's the stick-to-your-ribs kind of warm.  And it'll keep in your freezer for-ev-er.