Japanese Curry

Japanese Curry – Lunch on our 10th wedding Anniversary.

We used to enjoy eating Japanese curry at Hurry Curry restaurant in LA. My favorite was the spinach curry and my hubby liked the shrimp curry. Here is my attempt at recreating the shrimp curry which turned out pretty good. You may make the same curry with mushroom, spinach or chicken.


Ingredients:

Curry Powder:
Fennel (Sauf) – 1 tsp
Clove – 1
Peppercorn – ½ tsp
Allspice – 2 seeds
A pinch of mace, cardamom and cinnamon or use your garam masala
Red chilies - 2
Coffee powder – ½ tsp
Cayenne pepper - 4 tsp or less or use red chili powder
Turmeric (haldi) powder – 1 tbsp
Coriander (dhaniya) powder – 1 tbsp
Cumin (jeera) powder – 1 tsp
Dry Ginger powder (Saunth) – 2 tsp


Roux:
Oil or Butter – 3 tbsp (I used vegetable oil)
Wheat Flour – ¼ cup
Curry powder – 2 tbsp
Ketchup – 1 tsp
Soy sauce – 1 tbsp or more
Salt 1 tsp


Curry:
Oil – 2 tbsp
Shrimp – 10 to 15 pieces (clean and apply salt and ½ tsp curry powder and set aside)
Onion – 1 cup , sliced
Potatoes cubed – 1 cup
Carrots cubed – ½ cup
Garlic, chopped – 1 tbsp
Roux
Salt and pepper to taste.
Sesame Chili oil or plain chili oil



Method:

Curry Powder:
Slightly toast all the ingredients except the powders in a dry pan. Allow to cool. Add the powders as well and grind.















Roux:
Pour oil in a pan and place on medium heat. When the oil is warm, add flour and keep stirring till all the flour is incorporated and the flour changes color to light or medium brown. The more the flour is cooked, the more flavor it will add to the curry. Be careful not to burn the flour. Add Curry powder, ketchup, salt and soy sauce. Stir till at all comes together and a thick paste is formed.
















Curry:

• Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Saute shrimp for one minute and set aside.


• Add onion, carrots and potatoes to the same oil and saute till onion turns golden brown. Add garlic and salt and fry for another minute.


• Add 3 cups water and cook covered till all the vegetables are fork tender. Once the vegetables are cooked, add shrimp.


• Take the roux and add some water to it. Whisk to form a smooth paste without any lumps. Add to the curry and stir.


• Add more salt and fresh ground pepper if required. Gently stir till the sauce thickens to the curry consistency. Serve with rice along with chili oil.

Alternative Ingredients:
Add 1 bunch spinach leaves Spinach or 1 cup Mushrooms or 10 to 12 Chicken pieces instead of shrimp. If using chicken, apply salt and curry powder and add along with the sliced onion. Spinach and mushroom cook fast so add them directly to the curry once the onion is golden brown and saute for about a minute before adding water. Also drop carrots when using mushrooms or spinach.