Vegan Japanese Curry

Cooking Method

3-4 Servings. Serve with Cooked Rice or Noodles and Vegan Chicken

Make the roux. In a small saucepan, heat the oil over low heat. Add the flour, stir to combine and cook for 5-7 minutes until slightly browned. Add the garam marsala, curry powder and cayenne, stir to incorporate and continue cooking for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Make the curry. Heat oil over medium heat in a large soup pot or Dutch oven and add the onions. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute, until fragrant. Add the carrots and potatoes and continue to stir for another minute. Add garam masala and cook for another minute, stirring to combine.

Add vege stock and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a gentle boil (this should only take a few minutes), then cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 7-10 minutes. The vegetables should be firm, yet tender. Remove the lid and, optionally, remove any foam that has formed on the top.

Add grated apple and soy sauce and cook, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Add the edamame or peas and stir to combine.

Ladle some of the liquid into the cooled roux mixture and stir into a lump free paste. Pour this into your pot, constantly stirring gently with a wooden spatula or whisk until the curry is smooth.

Increase the heat to medium and continue cooking, stirring often, for about 5 more minutes until the curry thickens and the vegetables are tender. Just before serving, season with salt or soy sauce to taste. Serve over rice with scallions and sesame seeds.

Ingredients

1 onion
1 clove garlic
4 cups of veggie stock
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 apple peeled and grated
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp garam masala
¼ cup green peas
2 onions

For Roux

3 tbsp vegetable oil
4 tbsp flour
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp curry powder
Cayenne pepper
1 tbsp tomato sauce (ketchup)
1 tbsp soy sauce

Recipe Link

Cooking Notes

Advance Preparation:

The curry is best served the day it’s made but it can be refrigerated for a couple of days. Make sure you add a bit of water before heating the curry since it will thicken after being refrigerated. You may want to add salt to taste after adding the water. The roux can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Apple:

Use a microplane or an immersion blender to achieve an apple sauce consistency. Alternatively, use ½ cup of unsweetened natural apple sauce.

Broth:

A gluten-free Not-Beef Bouillon broth provides a lovely dark caramel color and a rich flavor. Any vegan vegetable broth or bouillon will work in this recipe. If you prefer to use water or low-sodium broth, the curry will have a more pale color.

Curry powder:

I use a non-organic Curry Powder. Garam masala also works well in this recipe in place of curry powder. Just add ¾ teaspoon of ground turmeric in your garam masala (before adding them to the roux and curry) and 3 tablespoons unsweetened soya or coconut milk in the end to balance the spice and dilute the color. Garam masala will make the curry darker and spicier than the curry powder I used in the recipe. When purchasing a curry powder or garam masala, do not choose one that lists cumin as the first ingredient. This type of curry powder is not the flavor you want for this dish. An ideal curry powder will have turmeric, fenugreek or coriander among the first few ingredients.

Gluten-free option:

Use 36g (4 tbsp) mochiko sweet rice flour in place of all-purpose flour, gluten-free tamari in place of soy sauce and tomato paste in place of ketchup. For the roux, cook the sweet rice flour over very low heat for about 4 minutes, bubbles will form and starts to clump together. Do not burn or brown the roux. The color of the roux will stay pale. If you are unable to find sweet rice flour, try Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour.

Potatoes:

Peeled potatoes should yield about 300g (10.6 oz). To cut potatoes, slice each potato in half lengthwise. Slice the two pieces in half again lengthwise. You should now have 4 long pieces of potato. Slice each piece horizontally three to four times to produce approximately 1-inch chunks.

Spicy version:

Garnish the curry with a dash of our favorite Japanese chili flakes: ichimi togarashi. Or add ½ teaspoon dried chili flakes or 2 chillies (seeded & finely chopped) to the roux.