Monday, September 17, 2007

Breaded Butternut Squash with Katsu Curry Sauce

First, my apologies for the fact that this picture makes this dish look unappetizing, I swear to you it tasted awesome, it just is not a very photogenic dish. Please don't let this stop you from making it, because it was great. I first had this dish at Wagamama a few weeks ago and loved it so much that I ran back to my computer after lunch and googled the dish and found the recipe for the sauce on line. The original dish I had had eggplant and butternut squash covered in panko bread crumbs and deep fried. I didn't have panko bread crumbs, so I used regular, and I wanted to keep the dish as low fat as possible, so I opted to bake the squash in the oven (I omitted the eggplant because I had a lot of squash to use up). I will let you know in advance that the recipe that I followed for the sauce make enough to feed a small army, so half the recipe if you don't want to end up freezing 32 ounces of it like I did.

Here Goes

Katsu Curry Sauce (Wagamama)
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves, chopped
half large onion, chopped
3 Granny Smith apples, chopped
2¼ pints water
2 bananas, chopped
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp ground turmeric
½ tbsp hot curry powder
2 tbsp ketchup
15 fl oz chicken stock (I used vegetable stock)
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ground black pepper

In a large saucepan, heat together the butter, garlic, onion and apple, mix together and fry briefly. Add in 1¼ pints water, then the banana, honey, turmeric, Madras powder and ketchup. Bring to the boil. Add in the stock. Mix together the remaining water with the cornflour. Add to the curry mixture with the salt and black pepper.

At this point I took the sauce cooled it a little bit and put it in a blender to mix up the bits of apple and banana that had not broken down (be very careful when doing this - hot liquid in blender = big mess if not done right)

For the Butternut Squash: I simply peeled the squash and cut it onto round disks about 1/4 inch thick. I sprayed each side of the disk with canola spray then dredged it in whole wheat flour, then into an egg/milk bath, then into the bread crumbs. I put the butternut squash on a cookie sheet that I had sprayed with canola oil and baked at 350 for 20 minutes, flipping the discs over after ten minutes.

I served the discs over a bed of white rice and then topped them with the curry sauce.

Rating = So Damn Good

14 comments:

Hannah said...

I need to make this right now.

AlwaysJoy said...

I just went to Wagamama last Friday night and had this, I loved it! Thanks for the recipe... How small do I cut the apples?

JB said...

Joy - I peeled, cored and diced them. The recipe I found on;ine didn't give any direction on that, I guess you could leave them with the skin on, but I didn't want to take any chances so I just peeled them.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe. I use panko bread crumbs with zucchini slices (cut even thinner) but have typically sauteed them in olive oil until crispy. I don't dredge in flour first, but bet that will make them better. I like your baked version as well - it sounds a lot easier! I'll also plan to try the curry dip once I get the ingredients. For now, I'll pair the baked zucchini with an easier honey mustard dip. I make the dip with low-fat mayo mixed with dijon mustard and honey to taste. Works well with the zucchini flavor...

Anonymous said...

that sauce looks just like the wagamamas but does it taste the same? plz reply

JB said...

I think that this is the closest you're going to get to the Wagamama sauce without just buying from them (which you can't). I thought it tasted very similar to the sauce.

Chocaholic said...

I made this today - loved it up until the point I added the pepper! From then on could taste nothing but the pepper :( Must put in about half next time.

JB said...

Sorry Chocoholic, that's a lot of work to put into something you ended up not liking. sorry.

JB said...

Sorry Chocoholic, that's a lot of work to put into something you ended up not liking. sorry.

Anonymous said...

I was a chef at wagamama and I can tell you katsu sauce does not have apple or banana anywhere in it, the very thought sounds disgusting. The sauce is simply an oil infused with herbs and spices which is later cooked down to a paste with flour. From the paste you add water and coconut to make the curry sauce. Simple.

Anonymous said...

how do you make it not liquidy? like thick like in wagamamas?

JB said...

maybe add cornstarch, i'm not sure?

Suzi said...

This tastes absolutely fantastic and does taste similar to the Wagamama one. It really pisses me off when people leave comments like the one above me just to criticise. It is a katsu curry, as katsu simply means that the vegetables are breaded. Thanks for posting this up - DINNER IS GOING TO BE AMAZING TONIGHT!!xx

Lisa said...

This was great - but I made some adjustments.
I cut the pepper down to 1/2 tsp.
I only added on 20oz water (after gently sautéing the first few ingredients, because it seemed like far too much water. I then added 2 organic chicken stock cubes and let it simmer gently.

This turned out to be a fantastic meal -- SO delicious - so thanks for posting!!