This dish is inspired by the traditional Japanese dish ‘chicken katsu’. We serve our crunchy breaded aubergine with a gorgeous curry sauce and cooked rice.
You can make this gluten-free using gluten-free breadcrumbs and flour.
We use coconut milk in our katsu sauce, which is less traditional but it gives the sauce a sweetness which balances really well with the earthy aubergine.
Instead of aubergine, you can also use tofu or even partly-cooked sweet potato.
2 cups panko breadcrumbs, or gluten-free breadcrumbs
For serving:
jasmine rice, spring onion and sesame seeds
Instructions
Start by making the sauce. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and garlic and fry for 10 minutes or until the onion and carrot are soft, but avoid them browning.
Meanwhile, add the flour to a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper and 3/4 cup of water. Combine to form a smooth batter (add more water if the batter is too thick). Add the panko breadcrumbs to a separate bowl.
Dip the aubergine rings first into the batter, then cover in the breadcrumbs and leave them to one side for later.
Stir the curry powder and a pinch of salt into the pan with the carrot mix and fry for 1-2 minutes.
Then stir in the tinned coconut milk and maple syrup, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes.
Pour the katsu sauce into a blender and blend until smooth, then pour it back into the pan and leave it to one side.
Cook the 4 portions of rice as per the packet instructions.
Fill a saucepan with vegetable oil until it’s at least 1-2cm / 0.4-0.8” deep. Heat the oil on a high temperature until it’s approximately 180°C / 356°F. Test by dropping a small pinch of breadcrumbs into the pan and if it sizzles then the oil is ready for frying.
Cook the aubergine in batches of 3-4 for about 4 minutes on each side or until golden all over. Then leave them on kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. If you like you can also keep the cooked slices of aubergine in the oven on a low temperature to stay warm.
When you’re nearly ready to serve, heat the sauce in the pan and serve the aubergine with the sauce, cooked rice, sliced spring onion and sesame seeds.
Hey! We recommend steaming or roasting slices of sweet potato so it begins to soften, but is not soft all the way through – otherwise it might not cook all the way through when you fry it. Hope that helps!
I tried it just now .I suggest strongly that you use smaller eggplant … Less seeds/The portions are more easily controlled like he has pictured. I unfortunately had a large actually two large egg plants they turned out great though… I am a huge fan of the sauce that worked out perfectly .I served it with jasmine rice ,the green onions and black sesame seeds…, looked very favorable thought I cheated though with my vitamix ( it has a warming program on it )so instead of putting it back in the pan again once it was all mixed / warmed right there for service. Will try again I actually used rice flour instead of regular flour . I increased the garlic (because I love it )to seven cloves instead of the four …spot on! when I rewarm this I will make sure that I put it in the oven to dry it out because eggplant plant has a lot of water content in it anyhow!! Thank you for sharing… All in all a very good meal and definitely meatless… In this economy you have to come up with meals that are not always leaning towards the meat ,but away from it just so you can keep on budget! Thank you once again…PS air frying it probably would give it back it’s life if you’re going to serve a couple nights in a row oh it’s definitely worth a try.
For some reason my batter was so thick I had to double it and it was thick on my slices. I fried and roasted it for 10minutes to thicken the batter and it tasted amazing but I still don’t know why my batter turned out like that! Amazing
Hey Jay. Oh that’s strange. Sometimes cup measurements can vary because they’re not precise. But next time you can add a splash of extra water if the batter is too thick. Hope that helps!
Made a double batch by using 2 long eggplants and 2 small sweet potato. I just brushed oil onto the pieces and baked for 15-20 mins flipping once and the outside was crispy and inside was cooked. Note: i soaked the sweet potato slices in boiled water for 3 mins before battering and baking. I definitely quadrupled the spices abd garlic because otherwise once you add the coconut milk its too bland. Topped with a swqueeze of lime and it was delicious. Thanks
I also made it with oven baked eggplant because I am to lazy to fry. I pealed the eggplant begore slicing to 2cm, lightly coated with some olive oil and baked at 220 C for about 30 mins.
17 Comments
This was so good!
My non-eggplant loving kids loved it
Thank you!!
thanks Sarah!
When u say partly cooked sweet potato, what do u mean. Trying this tonight, will let you know how it turns out. Thanks guys
Hey! We recommend steaming or roasting slices of sweet potato so it begins to soften, but is not soft all the way through – otherwise it might not cook all the way through when you fry it. Hope that helps!
Loved it!
Yay thanks!
This looks amazing. Do you think it would turn out well if I air fried it? Or baked it?
Yes definitely!
I tried it just now .I suggest strongly that you use smaller eggplant … Less seeds/The portions are more easily controlled like he has pictured. I unfortunately had a large actually two large egg plants they turned out great though… I am a huge fan of the sauce that worked out perfectly .I served it with jasmine rice ,the green onions and black sesame seeds…, looked very favorable thought I cheated though with my vitamix ( it has a warming program on it )so instead of putting it back in the pan again once it was all mixed / warmed right there for service. Will try again I actually used rice flour instead of regular flour . I increased the garlic (because I love it )to seven cloves instead of the four …spot on! when I rewarm this I will make sure that I put it in the oven to dry it out because eggplant plant has a lot of water content in it anyhow!! Thank you for sharing… All in all a very good meal and definitely meatless… In this economy you have to come up with meals that are not always leaning towards the meat ,but away from it just so you can keep on budget! Thank you once again…PS air frying it probably would give it back it’s life if you’re going to serve a couple nights in a row oh it’s definitely worth a try.
For some reason my batter was so thick I had to double it and it was thick on my slices. I fried and roasted it for 10minutes to thicken the batter and it tasted amazing but I still don’t know why my batter turned out like that! Amazing
Hey Jay. Oh that’s strange. Sometimes cup measurements can vary because they’re not precise. But next time you can add a splash of extra water if the batter is too thick. Hope that helps!
Made a double batch by using 2 long eggplants and 2 small sweet potato. I just brushed oil onto the pieces and baked for 15-20 mins flipping once and the outside was crispy and inside was cooked. Note: i soaked the sweet potato slices in boiled water for 3 mins before battering and baking. I definitely quadrupled the spices abd garlic because otherwise once you add the coconut milk its too bland. Topped with a swqueeze of lime and it was delicious. Thanks
Any nutrition info like calories on this recipe? I tried it and it was delicious, just trying to calculate my day!
Tried it. Loved it.
Love the recipe!
I also made it with oven baked eggplant because I am to lazy to fry. I pealed the eggplant begore slicing to 2cm, lightly coated with some olive oil and baked at 220 C for about 30 mins.
Guys! I used to make this recipe many times and I love it ! I recently cannot stand well coconut products, can I use some vegan cream instead?
I’ve made this before and loved it but am curious if I could swap the coconut milk for Greek yogurt to up the protein in this recipe?