Japanese Curry... why do people add weird stuff

[masteraznchefjr]

So I decided to experiment with ingredients that people have told me "enhances" Japanese curry such as using coco powder, garam masala, cream, and honey.
Here is what I came up with

Ingredients of oddness
4 Chicken thighs and drumsticks (best if already deboned)
5 Carrots
3 Potatoes (Medium sized Yukon potatoes)
1 Brown onion
3.5 oz (100g) Package of curry roux (I prefer super hot)
2 cups Chicken stock (a little more for reserve)
2 Tbs Tomato paste
2 Tbs Heavy cream
2 Tbs Garam masala (see Indian basics section)
1 Tbs Cayenne pepper (adjustable to tolerance)
1 Tsp Coco powder (wtf??? yea...)
1 Tsp Honey
1 Tsp Soy sauce

Prep work of samurai chopping
1. Chop onions into 1 sq in sizes
2. Slice carrots to desired thickness (baby carrots work if you don't want to cut anythign)
3. Peel and chop potatoes into desired cube sizes ( I make them 1 cubic in big)

Cooking
1. Add chicken skin size down in a pot until browned
2. Add in onions and cook until translucent
3. Add carrots, potatoes, and chicken stock
4. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes are almost done
5. Add roux, tomato paste, heavy cream, garam masala, cayenne pepper, coco powder, honey, and soy sauce
6. Mix all the ingredients well and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
7. Reduce until sauce-like viscosity. If it is too thick, add more chicken stock.
8. Serve with rice or noodles.

Any suggestions to what I can do to make an absolutely delicious curry? I found that this made the curry richer and have a better aroma, but still needs some work.

 

[roadfix]

I would keep it very simple the way Japanese curry was meant to be served, with plain steamed rice.
Why modify such a nice dish?

 

[spork]

There's some debate, spiced with geo-politics, whether Japanese is a "true" curry. I think maybe the Japanese are hedging their bets on the debate, trying to make their curry something of their own. So, they add weird stuff to it.

One very common ingredient is apple chunks/slices.