Japanese-Style Beef Curry

Curry likely arrived in Japan in the late 19th century with the British who ruled India at the time. The dish was adapted to suit local palates, and Japanese curry, as we now know it, is a much-loved food the world over. It is essentially a thick, savory-sweet, spiced sauce—sometimes ingredients are cooked in it, sometimes the sauce is spooned onto fried cutlets or even plain rice. Most home cooks use store-bought curry “bricks” to make Japanese curry, but we use a mixture of curry powder and garam masala to approximate the flavor. Serve this with steamed short-grain rice and, if you can find it, fukujinzuke, a crunchy, sweet-salty Japanese relish that almost always accompanies curry.