Making Halal Japanese curry, it is pretty easy!
Curry is originally from South Asia, but it is now a part of Japanese food culture. The recipe has been modified to meet the palate of Japanese, which is the reason why what we now see in Japan is totally different from original curries.
For many Muslims, it is a food to be careful of, because Japanese curry and rice contains lots of animal products that are obviously haram. It usually contains fat from cow and pig, with meat which is not religiously processed.
Today we are going to show you a Halal curry paste called roux, and how it should be cooked. By reading this article, you can make a complete Halal curry in your home country, whenever or wherever you want.
What do we need to cook Japanese curry?
First of all, let’s see what we need to prepare for cooking.
Curry paste called roux, a solidified mixture of sauce, made with fat, flour, and curry spices.
Potato, Carrot, Onion, meat of your choice, oil, butter if you like.
Cumin seed, Garam Masala and Laurel can be added too.
Recipe
Japanese curry making
- Sautee meat with butter
- Sautee onion, and then potatoes and carrot
- Add water to boil, removing harshness
- Add curry roux
- Boil until the curry gets muddy.
Now let’s see each step in detail.
- Sautee meat with oil/butter until surface is cooked.
2. Cut carrot and potatoes into dice, slice onions. Sautee onions with butter or oil until brown then add into meat, along with carrot and potato, with cumin seed if available.
3. Add 900ml of water and laurel until boiling hot. Remove harshness from vegetables and meat, and stew it for 20 minutes.
4. Add curry roux into hot water, mix well.
5. Add Garam Masala if there is any and mix well.
Usually, curry tastes better after it gets stewed well, which means the second day tastes better than the first day! If you like thick curry, try to reduce the amount of water that you put. Once potatoes are cooked, then it can be removed, and added at last minute if you want potatoes to be in shape.
So, is there any Halal curry roux paste?
The most important thing is that you buy Halal or Muslim-friendly curry roux paste, however, as of July 2023 there is no Halal certified Curry roux in Japan.
The only way we can make Halal Japanese curry is to choose Vegetarian Curry roux instead. Is that tasty enough? Don’t worry, we can make it taste like a non-vegetarian curry if you follow the above recipe, and add some of Halal animal fat if you do not mind adding some extra calorie. Also, try to choose a meat at a good quality.
S&B is a company that has variety of curry and ready-to-eat foods, and they have vegetarian curry roux, too. This is available at supermarkets, as well as DAISO! There are two types of curry roux, one is mild, and another is spicy. You can take whichever you like, as both of them are free from animal and alcoholic products.
Ingredients
Flour, oil, sugar, salt, starch, curry powder, black pepper, roasted onion powder, vegetable bouillon powder, powder soy sauce, cumin, garlic powder, seasoning (amino acid), Caramel color, acidulant, spice extract + red chilli for spicy roux.
Price
110 yen per package
Enjoy your own curry!
As you can see, curry making is super easy, and thanks to this vegetarian curry roux, the meal is totally Muslim-friendly! It can be found at any DAISO, so buying them as a souvenir and cook at your own house is another great idea.
As the roux curry paste does not contain any animal fat, it is recommendable to use meat and butter to make it tastier. You can put some Chicken Katsu on top, or to make Curry Udon if you want to make another Japanese recipe.