This homemade vegan katsu curry sauce inspired recipe, with crispy butternut coins, is a perfect main course dish for dinner parties. The creamy sauce and the crispy coins pair together beautifully, you’ll feel like you are out dining out in a Restaurant!
Please note this is a Katsu Curry inspired dish that has been adapted to use Asian flavours along with commonly found western cupboard and fridge ingredients.
If you want to make this vegan katsu curry soon, then PIN it for reference later!
The whole meal does take a while to prepare as the butternut squash needs to be breadcrumbed and then fried and finally baked, but the sauce is so easy and quick to make!
Important stuff:
The recipe in this blog post is adapted using the inspiration I took from enjoying Asian and Japanese cooking and is not a traditional recipe for an Asian curry. This sauce uses ingredients commonly found in western cupboards and is not a traditional Asian recipe. Hopefully, this can be a stepping stone to you discovering a love for Asian cuisines.
I am a huge fan of Asian cooking, for its beautiful flavours and because a lot of the meals can be vegan friendly with just a few alternations. I have been lucky enough to have visited Japan and some of South-East Asia before the pandemic and since visiting these countries, I very much enjoy incorporated Asian flavours and Asian inspired recipes into my weekly meals.
This Katsu Curry inspired recipe has been highly requested on my food Instagram and I would love it if you try it out. However, as this is not a traditional Asian Curry, there are lots of other food bloggers with plant-based recipes for Asian meals so I urge you to give these a try as well. Maybe even visit your local Asian supermarket to grab some of your spices instead of ordering it off Amazon or grabbing in a big chain supermarket in the UK. This will help out your local small businesses and Asian members of your own community.
Want to try out a recipe created by Asian creators? Of course, you do! My favourite Asian cooking pages are WoonHeng, George Lee, and I highly recommend the ‘Plant-Based Cookbook’, just to name a few!
Vegan Katsu Curry Inspired Recipe:
Vegan Katsu Curry
Equipment
- Large flat baking tray
- Large frying pan or wok
Ingredients
- 1-2 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1/2 thumb sized piece Fresh ginger peeled and minced
- 1 Vegetable stock cube
- 1 tbsp Garam masala
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- 3 tbsp Mild curry powder
- 2 tbsp Agave Nectar
- 2 tbsp Plain flour use cornflower for GF alternative
- 1 tin Coconut milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 75g uncooked Rice, per person to serve
- chopped Fresh corriander to serve
Instructions
For the crispy butternut:
- Peel the butternut squash and cut into 3/4cm thick chunks.
- Bake at 180 degrees C for approximately 25 minutes, or until the butternut is soft throughout. Use this time while the chunks are in the oven to prep your katsu sauce!
- Allow to cool before coating in the flour water paste (mix 1tsp turmeric, 1/2cup plain flour and some salt and pepper (to taste) with a few tbsp water at a time, till the sauce is runny but thick enough to remain on the butternut chunks and stick the breadcrumbs to it) , then dipping in breadcrumbs (I make mine using slightly stale bread whizzed up in a food processor for a few minutes but you can use store-bought breadcrumbs if you don't have any bread at home).
- Heat a generous amount of oil on a medium heat in a large frying pan for a few minutes. Then carefully place the bread-crumbed butternut pieces onto the hot frying pan. Cook the butternut chunks for approximately 5 minutes on each side or until desirably crispy on both sides.
For the sauce:
- Chop the onion into small-medium chunks and fry in a large pan/wok in a little water (or in oil if desired) till the onion starts to soften a little.
- Add the garlic, curry powder and garam masala to the onion and stir (so the powder doesn’t burn).
- Add the agave nectar and stir.
- Add the plain flour and stir again.
- Scoop the contents of the tinned coconut milk into a measuring jug and mix with a fork to combine the coconut cream and water. Very slowly add the coconut milk to the onion spice mix, stirring after every addition until the full can has been added.
- Leave on a low-medium heat till the sauce reduces down to a thicker sauce of desired consistency (It will look more oily when it is ready and will not stick to the sides of your pan).
- Finally, serve both components of your curry with rice and top with fresh coriander if you want it to look super fancy.
If you do make this katsu curry recipe be sure to send me a picture on Instagram so I can share your creation with my followers.
Emma Pugh says
Adapted recipe to suit – but essentially the butternut squash was delicious! Will make again. Thanks
Libby says
Hi Emma, Glad you enjoyed it! Butternut is always a favourite of mine at this time of year. Hope you make it again soon. Thanks for your comment. Libby 🙂 xx