Japanese Vegetable Curry

If you need a tasty new Meatless Monday dinner idea, here it is! This Japanese Vegetable Curry is the hearty and flavor packed recipe you need.

With big chunks of veggies drenched in a rich curry sauce, this meal will satisfy your appetite while delighting your taste buds.

All you need is some pantry staples and one special ingredient that you can find in most supermarkets: curry roux!

One of the best ways to go meatless is to make a tasty curry. Some favorites include Vegetable Korma and Palak Paneer.

But Japanese curries are very different from my Indian ones. For one thing, they’re much easier!

There’s also a big difference in flavor. That’s because rather than a masala, they use curry roux…

What is Curry Roux?

Curry roux is a flavoring made from curry powder, flour and oil, and sometimes other ingredients. It can be made from scratch, but is now readily available in packaged pre-made blocks.

You can usually find it in the Asian section of supermarkets (though sometimes it is in the British section, as they are big curry eaters). If not, check local Asian grocery stores, or online.

The most popular brands are:

1. S&B brand Golden Curry: Their roux is the most traditional, with a basic curry savory flavor. It’s less sweet than other brands, and comes in different levels from mild to medium to hot. But believe me when I say, even the hot also doesn’t turn into HOT curry. Many add extra additives like soy sauce, some kind of sweetener like grated apple or some sweet fruit preserve, and tomato ketchup to enhance the basic curry flavor.
2. House Foods brand Vermont Curry: This one is a little sweeter and the most kid friendly. It one contains honey, apples and cheese… maybe that’s why the name Vermont?
3. House Foods brand Java Curry: This one has some Heat. It’s less sweet than Vermont but has a good balance of savory and sweet.

Is Curry Roux Vegan?

S&B Golden curry is vegan. However, Vermont and Java curry contain milk products.

Neither are gluten free.

Japanese Vegetable Curry Ingredients

• Oil
• Veggies – Today we’re using onions, carrots and potatoes, the most traditional. Later I’ll give you some more ideas.
• Curry roux – S&B Golden Curry Hot mix is our favorite.
• Aromatics – Garlic & ginger.
• Sauces – Soy sauce, ketchup, worcestershire sauce (omit for vegan or vegetarian), apricot jam or preserves.

Japanese Vegetable Curry Recipe

Heat oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté till it is a nice golden brown. Add in chopped garlic and ginger, and sauté for a couple of minutes.

Stir in potato and carrot chunks. Give it all a good mix.

Add in 3.5 cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook till the carrots and potatoes are soft to your liking.

Stir in the curry roux, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and apricot preserve. Once the curry cubes have dissolved, cook 10 more minutes.

How to Serve Japanese Vegetable Curry

The most common ways to serve Japanese curry are:

1. Kare raisu: Meaning curry + rice. A nice scoop of curry over a plateful or bowlful of rice.
2. Dorai curry: Curry flavored fried rice or curry rice with a drier, mincemeat curry sauce.
3. Curry udon: Curry served with udon noodles, along with eggs and other toppings.
4. Katsu curry: Another very popular way to eat curry with the Japanese, as well as in Britain. This is curry served with rice and crispy breaded cutlets of pork or chicken.

Variations

Once you have the base curry sauce down, there are a number of different ways you can vary it.

• Add other veggies. Mushrooms, green beans and zucchini are some of our favorite additions.
• Make it a meat curry. Any type of meat will go in this curry. Check out our Japanese Beef Curry recipe.
• Tinker with the flavor. Try apple sauce instead of apricot, or omit the fruit factor entirely.

Storage and Leftovers

Japanese vegetable curry is great refrigerated for the next couple of days, stored in an air tight container. It tastes even better, as all the flavors have time to mingle with each other.

It also freezes well for a couple of months. Simply thaw overnight in the refrigerator and heat it on stovetop.

Try this great Japanese comfort food in your kitchen. It’s super unique, and one of the easiest curries you’ll ever cook.

And stay tuned. Our next post will be Katsu Curry, which is a great way to use this Japanese Vegetable Curry.

GypsyPlate is all about helping you experience the different cuisines of the world. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter, and join us on this culinary adventure. See you soon…

Japanese Vegetable Curry, on our Gypsy Plate… enjoy!

Try these other great curry recipes!
Jamaican Curry Chicken
Chicken Korma
Thai Green Curry
Country Captain
Chicken Masala
Pork Vindaloo
Caribbean Mussel Curry

Japanese Vegetable Curry

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Japanese Vegetable Curry is a boldly flavorful comfort food from the far east. Serve over steamed rice for a great meatless dinner.

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Ingredients

• 1.5 Tbsp cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, finely diced
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large potato, cubed
• 3.5 cups water
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp apricot preserve
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 3.2oz curry roux

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a soup pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté till it is a nice golden brown. Add in chopped garlic and ginger and sauté for a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in potato and carrot chunks. Give it all a good mix.
3. Add in 3.5 cups of water. Bring to a simmer and cook till the carrots and potatoes are soft to your liking.
4. Stir in the curry roux, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and apricot preserve. Once the curry cubes have dissolved, cook and additional 10 minutes.
5. Serve with hot rice.

Nutrition Information

Yield 4 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 171Total Fat 7gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 7mgSodium 337mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 3gSugar 5gProtein 6g

Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.

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Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.