Japanese curry stands apart from other types of curry due to its distinct sweetness. While it shares many ingredients with Indian curry, Japanese curry incorporates fruits like mandarin and honey to mellow the spice and add a gentle sweetness. A thick roux is also used, giving the dish a rich texture and a glossy, appealing appearance. As you can see above, the curry powder for Japanese Curry uses a LOT of spices!
I prefer to use chicken for Japanese Curry, but lamb or beef would work well too.
I haven’t been able to find a Japanese Curry Powder anywhere. The only product available in supermarkets and Asian stores are these curry cubes. I have avoided them after looking at the ingredients – they are loaded with MSG! I found a great recipe for curry cubes from Dani Valent which also contains a lot of ingredients and these work well too.
Here’s a recipe that I have adapted from various sources.
- 3 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground Chinese 5 spice
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ground sage
- Add everything to a dry Thermomix bowl, avoiding the blades and dry roast 5 min/120/sp 2/no MC.
- Allow to cool and place into a glass jar. Store in the pantry.
- Use 2 Tbsp to 500g chicken, lamb or beef.
