Japanese Katsu Curry
I believe that Japanese katsu curry is one of the best meals in the world. I loved it before going to Japan and then I went to Japan and had it there just to confirm my suspicions and I don’t think I could love it any more after my trip!
As its pumpkin season and you can pretty much ‘katsu’ anything I thought it was best I tried a pumpkin katsu.
The pumpkin is fried low and slow which cooked it perfectly inside the breadcrumb coating- I had to share the recipe so you too could make this delicious meal and love it as much as me!
So whilst pumpkins are in season I suggest you grab some and give this recipe a go!
Ingredients for katsu curry-
- Pumpkin - Fresh pumpkin or butternut squash
- Flour – All purpose
- Panko breadcrumbs – Or golden breadcrumbs
- Garlic – Fresh, powder or minced from a jar
- Ginger – Fresh or minced from a jar
- Turmeric & curry powder – For colour and flavour. Japanese curry powder is best but any will be fine.
- Sugar – or maple syrup/ golden syrup
- Soy sauce – Light or dark
- Coconut milk – Full fat or light
- Stock – I use Massels brand chicken- its accidentally vegan
- Cornflour/ cornstarch- This is essential to thicken the curry sauce
Note- For a cheats curry sauce you can use a Japanese curry cube- this one is my favourite!
Some more Japanese inspired recipes
How to make katsu
The word 'katsu' means cutlet and refers to the breaded meat served with the curry sauce rather than the curry itself. Traditional katsu is made with pork but this pumpkin version is a great plant based alternative. Breading consists of a flour coating to allow the batter to stick, a flour and water based batter then dipped in panko breadcrumbs and pan fried in oil until golden.
Cooking pumpkin from raw
As the pumpkin is breaded raw it starts hard but softens lovely inside the breadcrumb as long as it is cooked low and slow. Keep the heat between low and medium and cook each side slowly until golden. Test the pumpkins hardened on the thickest part of the pumpkin- if its not soft by the time the breadcrumb is golden finish by baking in the oven until soft inside after frying
How to make Japanese katsu curry
- Cut and peel the pumpkin
- Set up the breading station
- Bread the pumpkin
- Fry the pumpkin
- Flip and fry the other side
- Add the sauce ingredients to a pan
- Cook the sauce
- Plate up
Pumpkin katsu curry
Ingredients
- 500 g Pumpkin
- 100 g Flour
- 100 g Panko breadcrumbs
For the curry sauce-
- 2 Cloves Garlic
- 2 tsp Minced Ginger
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tbsp Curry powder
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 150 ml Coconut milk
- 300 ml Vegan chicken Stock
- 2 tsp Cornflour
Instructions
- Add all of the sauce ingredients apart from the cornflour to a sauce pan and simmer on low heat whilst you make the pumpkin cutlets.
- Cut and peel the pumpkin.
- Coat the slices in flour first then add water to the remaining flour to make a thick batter.
- Dip the pumpkin into the batter and then into the panko breadcrumbs.
- Heat some oil on medium heat for 2-3 minutes and gently lower the breaded pumpkin into the oil making sure it doesn’t stick to the pan.
- Turn the heat down to the lowest setting and leave the pumpkin to sizzle and go golden (this should take roughly 5 minutes).
- Then flip the slices and repeat the cooking for the other side.
- Mix the cornflour with 3 tbsp water into a paste and add to the curry sauce.
- Heat the curry sauce stirring continuously until thickened.
- Serve the curry with some rice drizzled in the sauce and the pumpkin cutlet on the top and enjoy!
Some more curry recipes
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