This month I wanted to make something different, and I decided to create something new! I wanted to make something savoury and vegetarian, and in the end I decided to make a version of katsu curry (カツカレー). Katsu curry is usually made with chicken, but I decided to try it with aubergine instead. The results were interesting, and I’ll definitely be making it again! The sauce part of this recipe came from Slimming World, so it’s fairly healthy!
Aubergine Katsu Curry (なすカツカレー)
Ingredients (serves 4… and a bit!)
- Low calorie cooking spray
- 1 egg, beaten
- 100g plain flour (seasoned with salt and pepper)
- 120g panko (パン粉) (Japanese breadcrumbs)
- 2 aubergines, sliced
- sticky white rice, cooked
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 courgette, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 200g mushrooms
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp fresh ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 litre vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp fat free fromage frais
Method
First, spray a large heavy-based saucepan with low-calorie cooking spray. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook for 3 minutes or until the onion is softened.
Add the carrots and courgette and lightly fry for a further 5 minutes.
Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powder and evenly coat the vegetables.
Add the stock, soy sauce and bay leaf and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the mushrooms after about 20 minutes.
While the sauce is cooking, pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees. Set up the egg, flour and panko in separate bowls like a production line – this is going to get messy!
(I wasn’t sure if rounds of aubergine would be better or long pieces, so I tried both. I think the rounds worked better though.)
Prepare a large baking tray by spraying it with cooking spray. Then take each slice of aubergine and coat it first in flour, then egg, then panko. This is sticky business, hence why there are no pictures of me actually doing it! Place each slice on to the baking tray.
Spray the coated slices and then put the them in the oven to bake. Bake for about 10 minutes then turn. Then bake for another 10-15 minutes. Once the sauce has been cooking for 30 minutes, turn off the heat. using a hand blender, blend the sauce until it is smooth and thick. You can leave some bits in if you want – I did!
Add the fromage frais and stir it in.
Remove the aubergine from the oven.
Put some sticky rice in a bowl and place some slices of aubergine on top. Add as much sauce as you like!
Serve with beer! (*^_^)v
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I’ll be back in August with a new recipe! If you have any suggestions, or perhaps you would like me to try one of your recipes from a book or website, please leave a comment below or get in touch! All the recipes I try on this blog have some connection to Japan and, because I don’t eat meat, they need to be vegetarian or pescetarian. I’m particularly interested in helping to promote Japanese recipe books, so do let me know if you have one I might like!
Haikugirl's Japan 