Tofu Katsu Curry

Step 1/14

• ½ firm tofu

Drain the tofu and remove as much water as you can. Once dried, cut into 4 rectangular ‘fillets’ and set aside.

Step 2/14

• ½ onion
• 2½ cloves garlic
• ½ tbsp ginger
• 1 carrots
• 1 stalks celery
• ½ banana

• knife

Peel and roughly chop the onion, mince the garlic cloves and ginger, finely slice the carrots and chop the celery into 1 cm pieces. Peel and cut the banana into the same size slices.

Step 3/14

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 100 g mixed mushrooms

• saucepan

First up, make the curry sauce. In a large saucepan, placed over a medium heat, add the sesame oil followed by the copped onion, garlic, ginger, carrot and celery. Add the mushrooms, ripping them in half if there are any large pieces and stir to combine.

Step 4/14

• 100 g new potatoes
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ tbsp tomato paste

Sauté the mixture with a sprinkle of salt for 4-5 minutes before stirring in the banana, potatoes (chopped in half / quarters so they’re similar sizes), chill flakes and the tomato paste (aka purée).

Step 5/14

• ½ tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tbsp flour

Mix together the Garam masala, flour and curry powder together before adding to the pan and stirring to coat the vegetables.

Step 6/14

• 240 ml vegetable stock
• ½ coconut milk
• 1 tbsp soy sauce

Deglaze the pan with the vegetable stock, coconut milk and soy sauce. Mix together well, then pop a lid on, turn the heat down to a simmer and let the curry bubble away and thicken up for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 7/14

Preheat your oven to 180 C.

Step 8/14

• 120 ml rice vinegar
• 5 radishes
• ½ red onion
• 2½ Sichuan peppercorns
• 1½ tbsp caster sugar
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tsp fennel seed

• saucepan

While the curry is cooking, make your pickles. Add the rice wine vinegar to a saucepan with the peppercorns, fennel seeds, mustard seeds and sugar. Bring the mix to a simmer then add the sliced radish and sliced red onion. Turn the heat off then transfer the contents to a bowl to cool completely. Once the pickle has cooled, it’s easy to eat, but the flavour will improve the longer you leave it. You can keep any left overs in a sealed sterilised glass jar in the fridge.

Step 9/14

• 60 g flour (for breading)
• ½ tbsp vegetable oil
• 150 ml water

• bowl

Next coat the tofu. First, make the batter by mixing the flour in a bowl and keep adding the water until it makes it a pancake batter style consistency, once you have it then mix in the oil.

Step 10/14

• 100 g panko breadcrumbs (for coating)
• ½ tbsp chili flakes (for coating)
• ½ tsp garlic powder (for coating)
• 60 g flour (for coating)

In another bowl, add the panko breadcrumbs, chilli flakes and garlic powder. Then in a third bowl, add the plain flour.

Step 11/14

• baking sheet

Grab your dried tofu and dip them, individually, into the tofu, then the batter, then finally in the breadcrumbs. Make sure the tofu is really well coated, them place them onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

Step 12/14

• 125 ml vegetable oil (for frying)

• frying pan

To cook the tofu, preheat a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Shallow fry the fillets when the oil is hot enough for around 2-3 minutes each side - or until the breadcrumbs are golden. Once they’re cooked, place them onto the baking sheet and then into the oven for 10 minutes.

Step 13/14

Check the curry is ready by checking if the potatoes are tender. If they are still undercooked, let the curry cooked away for a little longer. If the curry starts to get too thick, just add extra vegetable stock to loosen it.

Step 14/14

• rice (for garnish)
• salad (for garnish)
• sesame seed (for garnish)
• fried onion (optional)

To serve, slice the Katsu tofu fillets, then place up with some sticky rice, lots of curry sauce, salad and the pickles. You can also garnish with some crispy onions and sesame seeds if you wish.

Enjoy your meal!