Keema Curry (キーマカレー) is an Indian curry dish made of ground meat (usually lamb) and minced vegetables. This type of curry started to appear in Japan in 1950’s and it’s been adapted to Japanese taste.
Keema curry is one of our family’s favorite dish. Not only it tastes so good, but it’s so easy to make. Chop vegetables to small pieces and stir fry vegetables and meat first, then add curry powder and Japanese curry roux. Simmer for just 15 minutes and it’s ready to eat.
This is a wonderful meal for a busy evening, and I hope you will give it a try. Enjoy!
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- 1 onion (7 oz or 200 g)
- 1 stalk celery (2 oz or 57 g)
- ½ carrot (3.5 oz or 100 g)
- 6 shiitake mushrooms (1.7 oz or 48 g; You can use dried shiitake mushrooms instead of fresh ones. Soak in 1If you use dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in 1 cup of water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the water out and use this Shiitake Dashi in place of water)
- 1 Tbsp neutral-flavored oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 1 lb ground pork (454 g; for vegan/vegetarian, use mushrooms, zucchini, eggplant, etc)
- ¼ tsp kosher/sea salt (I use Diamond Crystal; Use half for table salt)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup chicken broth (240 ml; You can use vegetable stock for vegetarian/vegan)
- ½ cup water (or more)
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 cubes Japanese curry roux (Roughly 2 oz or 50 g. You can make homemade Japanese curry roux.)
- 1 Tbsp ketchup
- 1 Tbsp Tonkatsu sauce
- fried eggs
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Gather all the ingredients. Prepare steamed rice first, if you don't have any.
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Mince the onion, celery, carrot, and shiitake mushrooms.
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In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent.
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Add ground pork and cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.
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Add celery, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms and mix well with the rest of the ingredients.
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Add chicken stock and water. Add more water if necessary so the liquid is just enough to cover the ingredients.
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Add curry powder and mix well. Cover and bring it to boil. Skim off the scum and foam on the surface with a fine mesh skimmer. Reduce heat to medium-low heat and cook covered until the carrot is tender, about 5-6 minutes.
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Add curry roux and butter and mix well.
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Add ketchup and Tonkatsu sauce.
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Mix well and simmer without cover for 2 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add a small amount of water.
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Serve the Keem Curry over steamed rice and put a fried egg on top, if you like.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Photos updated in June 2013
Hi Nami, I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your incredible archive of tasty recipes and lovely stories about your family and experiences! I had been really intimidated to try cooking Japanese cuisicuisines then I came across your site and got inspired (and reassured). We actually felt confident enough to explore the local Marukai Marketplace, and came home and tried several of your recipes–the Curry Udon was an especial favorite, and just tried this recipe tonight (very tasty). The only issue I’ve run into is that I’m pretty averse to most seafood, and the combo of the fishy+seaweedy smell of the dashi, in particular, makes my tummy roil ;(. Is there a particular brand of dashi concentrate you might suggest that wouldn’t smell so strong? I feel like even with vegan/Kombu dashi that sea-smell would be present. Thanks!
Hi Tara! Thank you so much for your kind compliment! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed my recipes.
About the dashi question you have, it’s hard to remove the fishy or sweed smell as it’s the main ingredient. You can dilute more, if you like.
Or there is actually another “dashi” that we use. I haven’t shared a specific recipe yet on my blog, but we use dried shiitake mushroom as a part of dashi (like how I used here). You can either increase that amount to add more “umami” in the food.
However, if you do not like the flavor, you can completely omit. I wouldn’t substitute with chicken/beef/vegetable stock though. They don’t really go well with Japanese traditional flavor (some works).
Hope I answered to your questions. Let me know if I can help you further! 🙂
I eat Japanese curry at least once a week, and this is by far the best curry recipe I have ever tried. Thanks for offering your culinary expertise!
Hi Wendell! So happy you liked this. This is one of my go to meal too, and I cook pretty often when I’m busy. However, I haven’t had a chance to update my photo… it doesn’t look so tasty with the yellow dining room light! xD Hope I can re-take pictures soon. Thanks for trusting my recipe (besides bad picture) and making it. You made my day!
My whole family loved this recipe. In fact, my very picky kids will eat most of the recipes that I cook from you blog!
Hi Renee! I’m so happy to hear that! My kids love this too, and my son who normally eats very slow inhale this dish every time I cook. 😀 I’m glad your children enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
Nami,
Your Keema Curry recipe is delicious! I made it for dinner tonight and we loved it! We agreed that it was definitely on our “make again” list. Thank you for publishing so many great recipes. We are enjoying making our way through them.
Hi Gayle! Aww I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you for your kind feedback on this post. It’s fast and easy to make this dish, so it’s definitely our favorite frequent meal. 😀
Hi Nami! Do you think i could substitute lean ground turkey for ground pork? I loved Keema Curry when I was in Japan. Would like to try making it but hopefully make a healthier version.
Hi Carmela! Yes, you can do that. 🙂 I hoe you enjoy this recipe!
Thank you for the recipe. Wow, it was really delicious. I used ground beef without the celery and it still turned out delicious. It tasted like it was from the restaurant.
Hi Yvonne! I’m so happy you liked this recipe. It’s one of my go to recipes! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Nice and easy recipe! Flavors can very a lot with different roux/Tonkatsu sauce but it’s always good. Been making it for years now (*´꒳`*)
Hi Albert! Indeed! It’s my go-to recipe when I’m too busy. 🙂 Thank you so much for trying this recipe for so many years! xoxo
This was a smash hit! My housemates loved it and so did I because it only took 30 minutes to make. My housemate has been surprised because almost all of what I cook is Asian cuisine and has egg in/with it and she says she has never had it with dinner – but she likes it. I’ve also been cooking a lot of curry flavoured dishes recently and I’m just happy they haven’t got bored of it! Haha.
As always, thanks Nami!
御馳走様でした！
Hi Julia! I’m so so happy you liked this recipe! It’s actually one of my favorite quick menus that I often make at home. Thanks for trying this and for your kind feedback!!