Vegetarian Katsu Curry

This vegetarian katsu curry is made with breaded fried eggplant and a delicious creamy katsu curry sauce, for a delicious Japanese-inspired vegetarian dinner.

This delicious vegetarian katsu curry is the vegetarian version of a chicken katsu curry. We used crunchy breaded eggplant (also called aubergine) to replace the chicken and it’s served with a gorgeously creamy katsu curry sauce.

This is a seriously tasty restaurant-quality meal. It might not be the kind of super quick and easy meal you’d throw together on any weeknight, but when you’re in the mood for something a bit fancier, it really hits the spot!

And if you love curries, you’ll also love our Thai red curry, our Thai green curry and our black bean curry. And for more delicious vegetarian main courses also check out our vegetarian goulash.

What Goes Into This Aubergine Katsu Curry:

Ingredient Notes

• Coconut sugar – is just for flavor balance in this recipe and can be switched for light brown sugar.
• Vegetable stock – or vegetable broth are both great to use.
• Eggplant – this recipe uses 2 large eggplants, about 1 ½ pounds in total (before peeling and slicing).
• Coconut milk – should be canned, full fat, unsweetened coconut milk.
• Homemade buttermilk – we made up a batch of homemade buttermilk by mixing lemon juice and room temperature milk. For a dairy-free version soy milk also works really well for this.

How To Make Vegetarian Katsu Curry

Full instructions and measurements can always be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.

Katsu Curry Sauce:

• Add sesame oil to a pot on medium heat and add chopped onions and carrots. Sauté until the onions are softened.

• Add crushed garlic, grated ginger, curry powder and turmeric and sauté for a minute to toast the spices.

• Add tomato paste, coconut milk, vegetable stock and coconut sugar. Mix together and bring to a simmer.

• Simmer until the carrots are soft.

• Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to blend the sauce directly in the pot.
• Leave the pot on the heat at low heat and leave it to stay warm while you prepare the eggplant.

Crumbed Eggplant:

• Cut the ends off the eggplants and then peel them. Then slice the eggplant into ¼ inch thick circles.

• Add all purpose flour, curry powder and garlic powder to a shallow dish and mix together.

• Prepare the homemade buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (or distilled white vinegar) to a measuring jug and then adding room temperature milk up to the 1 cup (240ml) line. Let it curdle.
• Pour this out into a second shallow dish.

• Add breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to a third shallow dish and mix together.

• Take each eggplant circle and roll it in the flour mix. Then roll it in the buttermilk.

• Finally, roll it in the breadcrumbs making sure it is coated on all sides. Place the crumbed eggplant slices onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

• Add sesame oil to a frying pan and heat it on medium to high heat until hot. Sprinkle a few breadcrumbs into the pan, if they sizzle then your oil is hot enough.
• Add eggplant circles to the pan, as many as can comfortably fit without overcrowding. They should sizzle when they hit the pan. Fry for a minute and a half and then flip them and fry on the other side.

• When they are golden brown on both sides, place them onto a tray lined with paper towels to soak up any excess oil. Repeat until all your eggplant is cooked. Add more sesame oil as needed.

Serve:

• Place rice and katsu curry sauce side by side in a bowl. Serve the crumbed eggplant on top of the katsu curry sauce and sprinkle sesame seeds and fresh chopped cilantro over the top with lime wedges on the side.

Make Ahead, Storing and Reheating

Make ahead: If you want to make this aubergine katsu curry ahead of time, then you can make the katsu curry sauce up to 24 hours in advance, let it cool, cover and refrigerate. When you’re ready for it, just reheat it on the stovetop at low heat. That way you would just need to prepare the eggplant, make the rice and serve.

Storing: Store the eggplant and the curry sauce in separate containers in the fridge for 2-3 days. The eggplant will lose a lot of its crispiness but still tastes great.

Reheating: If you have an air fryer then reheating the eggplant in the air fryer is the best way to restore their crispiness. The sauce can be reheated on the stovetop. Otherwise you can reheat everything in the microwave.

Freezing: The sauce can be frozen and freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge and then reheat on the stovetop or in the microwave. The eggplant is not suitable for freezing.

More Delicious Vegetarian Curry Recipes

1. Easy Lentil Curry
2. Black Bean Curry
3. Red Curry Pasta
4. Thai Red Curry
5. Thai Green Curry
6. Vegetable Curry

Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below.