- Vegan Japanese Curry with Pumpkin -

One of the best things about having a blog is that you are able to work everywhere and that includes having the excuse to try out new places, that not only serve good food but give you the perfect atmosphere to write. And I think I just found my new (not exactly) love. Its Life organic restaurant and bar. I mentioned this place before, and the food never fails to disappoint. But I discovered my favourite place to write, the cushioned area opposite the bar. You’re sitting at a level slightly higher than everyone else with a small table, couch, and cushions with music playing in the background. I never want to leave. It’s literally perfect. Life café, you have stolen my heart. I don’t even want to try any other vegetarian places anymore.

Okay back to what I originally wanted to share with you guys, how many of you read the ingredients list before you purchase something? I have been doing it for a while and I try not to buy anything that has more than 5 ingredients, unless they are all natural. I wanted to make Japanese curry the other day so naturally I went out to buy curry roux. It was my first time looking at the ingredients list as I haven’t made it before, and I was shocked.

Take the House Vermont curry roux for instance, the first ingredient is edible fats (mixed beef tallow and lard, palm oil). I do not want to consume majority fats from a curry roux or anywhere for that matter, it’s disgusting and extremely bad for your body. The next ingredients are, wheat flour, sugar, salt, starch and curry powder is actually the sixth ingredient on the list. Other ingredients include pork extract, buttermilk powder, glycerin esters of fatty acids, processed cheese, flavor enhancers, and flavorings. All in all, there are over 30 ingredients for curry roux. It’s not only not vegetarian friendly but it’s ingredients that I don’t want to put into my body. Glancing over at the S&B Golden Curry roux, it was slightly better. It had no edible fats but still consisted of edible oil as the second ingredient on the list and gelatin.

Luckily, there was a savior, S&B spicy curry powder. It only consists of tumeric, coriander, cumin,fenugreek, pepper, red pepper, dried mandarin orange skin, and other spices. All natural!! But so expensive, 37g for $41HKD. But definitely, worth it though if you don’t want to be putting edible fats, extracts of animals and chemicals into your body.

I decided to add pumpkin to the vegan Japanese curry instead of potatoes, to get into the spirit of fall and a sprinkle of cinnamon to go with it. Naturally, there’s a lot of vegetables in the curry and I decided to pan fry firm tofu covered with panko breadcrumbs to give it that nice crispy texture to replace the chicken of pork in the curry. So give this recipe a go, fill it with vegetables and be glad knowing that what you’re eating is good for your body.

Vegan

Recipe:

Makes 5 servings

Ingredients for the Curry:

• 1 Sliced Onion

• 6 Cloves of Garlic, minced

• Minced Ginger

• 3 Tablespoons of S&B Spicy Curry Powder

• Cayenne Pepper

• Stevia

• Salt

• Black Pepper

• Cinnamon

• 300ml of Low sodium Vegetable broth

• 300g of Pumpkin, cut

• 1 large Carrot, cut

• 150g of Green beans, diced

• 5 Mushrooms, sliced

• Cornstarch

• 30ml of Coconut Oil (plus extra for frying the ingredients)

• 30g of plain flour

Ingredients for the pan fry tofu:

• Firm Tofu, sliced

• Panko breadcrumb

• Corn starch

Others:

• Cooked rice (I used red rice)

• Green onions, diced

1. Put about a tablespoon of coconut oil on the saucepan. Fry the garlic and ginger until golden brown.

2. Add the onions, turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it cook for about 10mins until it’s translucent and limp.

3. Stir until the onions are slightly golden. Add 2 tablespoons of curry powder, a bit of cayenne pepper, stevia, salt, black pepper, and cinnamon. Add 200ml of low sodium vegetable broth to the saucepan. Add the carrot and pumpkin, cook at medium heat.

4. To make the roux, mix the coconut oil and plain flour on a pan at low heat until they are integrated. Add a tablespoon of curry powder and 100ml of vegetable broth to the pan, and mix well.

5. Add the roux to the saucepan, this will thicken the curry. If it’s too thick, add some water.

6. Add the green beans and mushrooms to the curry. Cook until all the vegetables are cooked, about 10-15mins.

7. Meanwhile, heat up some coconut oil on a non-stick pan. Dip the tofu in the cornstarch and then the breadcrumbs. Pan fry on both sides.

8. Assembling: Fill half of the plate with rice and the other half with curry. Place the tofu on the top of the curry. Sprinkle with green onions.

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