Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for Japanese keema curry with courgette fritters

From theguardian.com

A mild but moreish bowl of curry and rice topped off with a tempura-style courgette fritter 

In culinary history, the military has played a surprisingly outsized role in helping ideas (and recipes) to travel across the world. Curry, for example, arrived in Japan not via India, as you might expect, but via the British military in the late 1800s, and it caught on to such an extent that today it is a Japanese household staple. It’s very different from a typical Indian curry, in that it uses curry powder, it’s not particularly spicy and it’s thickened with flour, but it is no less joyful. Keema means ground mince in Hindi, and here I’ve used soy mince instead.

Japanese keema curry with courgette fritters

The fritters add texture and fun, but they’re optional. If you can’t find Japanese curry powder, use two tablespoons of regular curry powder instead

Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4

For the keema curry
8 dried shiitake mushrooms (20g)
120g dried soy mince
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 carrots, trimmed and finely chopped (200g)
2 sticks celery, chopped into 5mm dice (130g)
1¼ tsp salt
4 tbsp (40g) plain flour
1½ tbsp Japanese curry powder (I like S&B’s oriental curry powder), or 2 tbsp regular curry powder
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp rice-wine vinegar

For the courgette fritters
3 tbsp cornflour
4½ tbsp plain flour (45g)
120ml fizzy water
100g courgette (ie, 1 small one)
100g spring onions, trimmed
Rapeseed oil, for frying
Sea salt, to finish
Jasmine rice, to serve

Fill up the kettle put it on to boil. Put the dried mushrooms in a heatproof jug and pour over 500ml just-boiled water. Put the mince in a heatproof bowl, and cover with up to a litre of just-boiled water. Leave both to soak for five minutes.

Lift out the mushrooms, squeeze them out, keeping all the soaking liquid, then finely chop. Tip the mince bowl into a sieve, discard its soaking water, and leave to one side.

Put the rapeseed oil in a frying pan on a medium-high heat and, once hot, add the onion, carrots, celery, chopped mushrooms and the salt and cook, stirring, for 15 minutes, or until soft and reduced.

Add the flour and curry powder, stir for a minute or two to cook out the flour, then stir in the drained mince. Add the reserved shiitake stock little by little, but leave behind the last tablespoon in case of grit. Leave the mince to come up to heat for a couple of minutes, then stir in the ketchup, soy and vinegar. Leave to bubble away for another couple of minutes, then take off the heat and put to one side.

To make the courgette tempura, first mix the batter. Put the cornflour and plain flour in a bowl, then pour in the fizzy water and mix to combine.

Now prepare the vegetables: use a peeler to cut the courgette into thin strips, and finely slice the spring onions into thin, ½cm-long strips. Drop the courgettes and spring onions into the batter bowl, and have ready a plate lined with kitchen paper.

Put four tablespoons of rapeseed oil in a non-stick frying pan on a medium-high heat until very hot. Test the oil is hot enough by dipping in a wooden spoon: if bubbles form around the edge, it’s ready. With a (clean) hand, scoop up a quarter of the courgette mixture, leaving the batter behind, drop into the hot oil, then repeat with another quarter of the courgette mix. Use a fish slice to spread out the fritters, then cook for three minutes, flipping every minute, until golden brown. Transfer to the lined plate, generously sprinkle with sea salt and repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil if need be.

Reheat the keema curry if it has cooled down, then distribute the rice and curry across four bowls or plates. Top each portion with a tempura fritter and serve.

Meera Sodha’s Japanese keema curry with courgette fritter. Photograph: Louise Hagger/The Guardian. Food styling: Emily Kydd. Prop styling: Jennifer Kay. Food styling assistant: Susanna Unsworth

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/oct/07/vegan-keema-curry-courgette-fritters-recipe-meera-sodha