Make your own Japanese curry powder easily

Making your own Japanese curry powder is a great alternative to the commonly used, pre-portioned curry cubes (such as Golden Curry). The curry powder consists of a varied blend of different spices and herbs and is free from preservatives and similar additives. With this recipe, you’ll learn how to make your own personalised curry base!

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What exactly is Japanese curry?

Japanese curry (also known as kare raisu or curry rice) is one of the most important main meals in Japan because it’s so easy to prepare at home. The dish’s advantages speak for themselves: it is easy to cook, it is (especially when served with rice) filling and, thanks to the fresh ingredients, very nutritious.

A plate of this Kare Raisu recipe contains a generous portion of classic Japanese curry with vegetables (consisting of potatoes, onions and carrots) as well as meat (or seafood or another vegetarian ingredient such as button mushrooms) and rice.

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What is the sauce for Japanese curry made with?

A Japanese curry can be prepared using (1) curry cubes, (2) ready-made curry sauces and (3) curry powder.

A classic example of curry cubes is S&B’s Golden Curry. Golden Curry – the most popular varieties being ‘Medium Hot’ and ‘Hot’ – is made from the original S&B curry powder and is characterised by a rich aroma of spices and herbs. At the same time, it contains no meat-based ingredients and is therefore perfectly suited to vegetarians:

S&B’s curry cubes are made from a variety of spices, which are simmered down in a roux and preserved in this way. Chilli and pepper are usually used to give the curry its heat.

However, today we don’t want to use ready-made curry cubes; instead, we’re going to make our own Japanese curry powder!

How do you turn Japanese curry powder into a curry sauce?

If you want to cook a delicious kare raisu using the curry powder, you should first make a roux and stir the ready-made spice mix into it. You can then replace the instant curry cube listed as an ingredient in the recipe (for example, kare raisu) at the appropriate stage:

So, to use the finished curry powder (the recipe makes about 50g of curry powder), you’ll also need:

• 100g butter and
• 50g flour.

Here’s how it works:

Put the butter in a small saucepan and melt it over a medium heat. Once the butter has melted, add the flour and turn up the heat. Stir the flour thoroughly into the butter and brown the mixture in the saucepan for about 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly (but be careful not to let it burn!). Then add the curry powder and stir everything well. After 30 seconds, you can turn off the heat.

You can now use your homemade curry roux in exactly the same way as a standard curry cube (enough for about 4 portions): This means you add the roux to the sauce as soon as the meat and vegetables are cooked through, and stir it in thoroughly.

And now I hope you have fun and good luck making your Japanese curry powder!