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1
Place a dry heavy pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seed, coriander seed, fenugreek, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, and cloves. Toast, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant and just beginning to smoke at the edges. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to a plate to cool. Do not toast the turmeric. Once cool, grind the toasted spices to a fine powder, then combine with the turmeric. The blend is ready when the ground powder is uniformly fragrant and finely textured with no whole seeds remaining.
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2
Melt 30 g butter in a wide, heavy pot over the lowest possible heat. Add the sliced onions and cook without rushing, stirring occasionally, for 45–60 minutes until they have collapsed entirely and reached a deep amber colour throughout. This is where the dish lives or dies: onions cooked for fewer than 45 minutes will be soft and sweet but will lack the Maillard compounds that define Japanese curry's flavour backbone; no subsequent step can compensate for an under-caramelised onion.
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3
In a separate pan, brown the meat pieces over medium-high heat in a little butter or neutral oil until a mahogany crust forms on all sides. The meat is ready when the surfaces are visibly browned and the pan smells of roasted protein, not steam. Set aside.
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4
Add the ground spice blend to the pot of caramelised onions and stir over low heat to bloom the spices in the residual fat for 1–2 minutes, until the mixture smells aromatic and the raw edge of the spices has softened. Add the remaining 30 g butter, allow it to melt, then add the flour all at once. Stir continuously over low heat until the roux is a uniform light brown and smells nutty rather than raw — this is a blonde-to-light-brown roux, not a pale paste.
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5
Remove the pot from heat or reduce to the lowest setting. Add the warm dashi or water gradually, stirring constantly to incorporate the roux without lumps. The liquid must be warm, not cold (which causes the roux to seize) and not boiling (which sets the roux surface before it dissolves). Return the browned meat to the pot. Bring gently to a simmer and cook until the meat is tender and the sauce coats a spoon but flows freely — if too thick, dilute with additional warm dashi and adjust seasoning.
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6
Off heat, stir in the soy sauce, Worcestershire, grated apple, and honey. Taste and adjust salt. The finished curry should be mildly spiced, distinctly sweet, and deeply savoury — the apple and honey register as warmth and roundness rather than identifiable sweetness. Rest overnight in the refrigerator if possible; the roux retrogrades and the sauce shifts from thick-starchy to silky and integrated.
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7
To serve, mound cooked short-grain rice on one half of each warmed plate. Ladle the curry sauce onto the other half, with meat arranged over it. The rice and curry remain separate on the plate; the diner controls the ratio at each bite.