Kokako Cafe, housed in a beautiful and spacious old post office in Grey Lynn, offers a regularly-rotating seasonal menu, with vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free options.
This recipe, courtesy of head chef Rohan Horner and sous chef Kentaro Kurihara, is a flavoursome alternative to Indian, Malaysian and Thai-inspired curries. Try it
with steamed rice, coleslaw and fresh coriander and sesame seeds to finish.
The cafe's usual recipe makes a lovingly-prepared pot for 20 - here, we've adapted it to serve a family for dinner or a couple of friends for dinner and lunch.
Spices
| 4 tsp | Cumin seeds, ground |
| 4 tsp | Coriander seeds, ground |
| 2 tsp | Cinnamon, ground |
| 1 tsp | Cloves, ground |
| 4 Tbsp | Turmeric |
| 1 tsp | Allspice |
| 4 tsp | Garlic powder, or use fresh garlic |
| 2 tsp | Ginger powder, or use fresh ginger |
| 2 tsp | Black pepper |
Roux
| 3 tsp | Curry powder, see ingredients above |
| 4 tsp | Rice powder |
| 2 Tbsp | Butter |
Curry
| 2 | Onions, sliced |
| 1 | Carrot |
| 2 | Potatoes, red skin (Main) |
| 250 g | Canned tomatoes |
| 15 g | Fresh garlic, grated, about 3 tsp |
| 15 g | Fresh ginger, grated, about 3 tsp |
| 60 g | Shiitake mushrooms, dried, soaked in water overnight |
| 30 g | Miso paste |
| 25 ml | Mirin |
| 2 | Apples, grated (Main) |
| 1 to taste | Butter |
| 200 g | Edamame beans, to garnish |
| 100 g | Sesame seeds, to garnish |
| 1 to garnish | Fresh coriander |
Directions
- Mix all spices and toast.
- Soak the shiitake in water overnight and slice if needed.
- Make a roux in a small saucepan. Stir to combine the melted butter and flour and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. The roux will turn a light brown colour. Add the spice/mix curry powder. Cook and stir for two minutes and remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- In a large pan, caramelise the onion in vegetable oil, add the grated ginger and garlic, and cook for few minutes.
- Add the shiitake, carrot and potato, cook for little while, then add the stock water and mirin.
- When the soup is boiled, turn the heat down to a simmer and add the roux and miso. Stir well.
- Simmer for 30 minutes then the curry will start thickening. Taste and season with salt and pepper but be careful not to salt too heavily as the miso adds quite a bit of salt already.
- Stir the edamame into the curry. Serve with steamed rice, a simple coleslaw, picked coriander and a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds.
