I had never had Japanese Curry before my coworker suggested I give it a try. I am lucky to have a Japanese food mart right near my office so I can easily go browse and pick up interesting ingredients. Japanese curry comes in a powdered block that dissolves in water and makes a thick, warm, spicy sauce.

This dish is typically made with meat, but I decided to make a vegetable stew Japanese curry with potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and onion. It takes about 30 minutes of sauteing and simmering to get the veggies all tender and soft. We served ours over starchy white rice so it could sop up all the thick curry sauce.

If you don’t have a Japanese food store near you, you can make your own curry roux with these ingredients (in your international foods aisle) and this easy recipe: 3 Tbsp butter, 4 Tbsp all purpose flour, 1 Tbsp curry powder, 1 Tbsp garam masala, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper.

Below is a picture of the package/brand of Japanese curry I used. I bought the “hot” variety, but it wasn’t too spicy. It was just warm and absolutely delicious. We made enough for several rounds of leftovers. It gets better every day!

Ingredients
olive oil
2 baking potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 yellow onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups of chopped butternut squash (1 inch pieces)
4 cups water
6 servings Japanese curry powder block
6 servings cooked white rice

Ingredients
In a large deep Dutch oven or skillet over medium heat, add 2 Tbsp olive oil. Saute potatoes, carrots, and onion for about 5 minutes. Then add butternut squash and saute for another 5 minutes, or until the onions have turned light brown. Add four cups of water and bring to a light simmer. Lower heat and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Add Japanese curry blocks and stir to dissolve. Simmer for another 5 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.

Makes 6 servings