gluten free, dairy free, paleo, vegan \
I’ve decided that Japanese curry is probably now my favourite type of curry, the diversity and combination of spices is really unmistakable. Paired with pumpkin, you really can’t go wrong for a warming winter dish.
This S&B curry spice blend is the spice used for different types of katsu curry – for example, breaded chicken or pork cutlets served with the curry sauce and rice. If you’ve never tried it, you need to go straight to your nearest Japanese restaurant, or you can always get the recipe for the traditional curry in Russ Crandall’s excellent book Paleo Takeout.
In this picture, I’ve served the curry soup with my purple sweet potato flatbreads! Purple sweet potatoes, or yams, are also very popular in Japan, so the combination of the curry and the flatbread is simply perfect.
Just a note about the curry powder, it seems to be hard to track down in Australia. The best places would be Japanese supermarkets or Asian supermarkets with a large Japanese section. I have a friend bring it to me from the US – he buys it on Amazon (thanks Jeremy!!!). I’ve put a picture of the curry powder packaging in the photos for this post. There also seems to be an alternative design for the tin, all red, so maybe look out for that version here in Australia.
Now, if you despise having to cut pumpkin in to pieces, you can roast the piece with the skin on after de-seeding as in this method from Donna Hay. The onions and garlic can also be roasted at the same time. The Japanese curry spices *must* be cooked though, so they can be heated with some oil and then blended with the roasted pumpkin etc.
I’ll also post the recipe for homemade Furikake seasoning as well, I use this all the time and one recipe makes a big batch.
Japanese Curry Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg 3 lb. pumpkin - peeled, de-seeded and chopped in to 1 inch pieces
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 small-medium brown/yellow onions
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons Japanese curry powder S&B brand
- 3 cups water
- 1/4 cup coconut cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Roast or steam the pumpkin for 30 minutes and let cool slightly.
- While the pumpkin is cooking, prepare the garlic and onions as described.
- Sweat the onions in the oil on medium heat for 7 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for 3 minutes.
- Add the curry powder and mix well with the onion and garlic, stirring until fragrant (around 4 minutes). If the mixture is a little dry, add some more oil.
- Add the coconut cream and stir for 1-2 minutes.
- If using a food processor or blender, add the cooled pumpkin, the water and the curry blend in to the food processor, blender or you can do this in a big pot with a stick blender.
- Re-heat and serve. You can garnish with coconut cream (perhaps watered down a bit to create a nice pattern on the surface of the soup) or with furikake seasoning.
- Leftovers may be stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
- I like to use Jap or Kent pumpkins - these are Australian varieties. I always look for a dark orange flesh.
- Equipment: Food processor, blender or stick blender (a stockpot is needed if using a stick blender), frypan/skillet, knives, wooden spoon, chopping board, measuring cup and spoons.
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