Learn how to make Japanese Curry Roux from scratch. Only five ingredients! This easy recipe will help you cook up many delicious pots of Japanese curry.
Japanese curry (also known as Curry Rice/Kare Raisu/カレーライス) is the ultimate comfort dish. It is the staple meal for many Japanese households because it’s so easy to make at home.
The convenience comes from the readily made Japanese Curry Sauce Mix or curry roux (カレールー), which allows you to cook up the stew-like curry consisting of meat & vegetables in the shortest time.
What is Japanese Curry Roux?
The curry roux in block form was first introduced by S&B Foods in 1956. It refers to a solidified mixture of sauce, made with fat, flour, and curry spices as the base flavor.
These days we can even find many varieties of instant Japanese curry roux in the Asian aisle at American supermarkets.
The boxed curry roux often comes in a distinctive block that resembles a thick chocolate bar, where you break off individual cubes for the portion you need to make. Some of the common brands include S&B’s Golden Curry, House’s Vermont Curry, Java Curry, and Torokeru Curry.
Homemade Japanese Curry Roux
Although the boxed stuff may spare you some time in the kitchen, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to make your own Japanese Curry Roux at home. And just like all curries, curry roux is best made from scratch. The other good reasons for homemade roux?
- No chemical seasonings, preservatives, artificial flavors, and other food additives, which are commonly found in boxed mixes.
- You can customize the flavor, spice level, and thickness to your preferred taste each time you make it.
How to Make Japanese Curry Roux
Ingredients You’ll Need
My recipe for Japanese curry roux requires only five ingredients that you will have in the pantry. They are:
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose/plain flour
- S&B Japanese curry powder
- Garam masala
- Cayenne pepper (optional for spice)
You can use salted butter for making the curry roux. If you do, adjust the amount of salt in the curry recipe you’re making. I use unsalted butter and add salt to taste as I cook.
Why Do We Combine Curry Powder and Garam Masala?
I have made homemade curry roux with just the S&B Japanese curry powder in the past, and it works great.
However, I wanted to make my own curry roux blend without having to buy all kinds of spices that I won’t necessarily use for my daily cooking. One day in my pantry, I found a bag of garam masala I purchased from my local Indian grocery store and I just mixed that into my curry roux. Garam masala added a wonderful fragrance and depth to the roux!
Since then (for the past 10 years), I’ve been using these two spice blends as my base for my curry roux. You can play around with the spices I listed on my pantry page for Japanese curry powder. Make your own blend for fun!
You’re probably wondering about the curry powder and garam masala, so I’ll cover these topics later in the post.
Overview: Cooking Steps
The roux is made with butter and flour that helps to thicken the broth. For the curry roux, we start by cooking the butter and flour mixture for a long time until it turns brown, somewhat chocolate color, for about 25-30 minutes.
When you add the curry powder, garam masala, and cayenne pepper to the roux, you’ll get delicious homemade curry roux.
The butter gives a rich sweet flavor and the toasted flour brings nuttiness. Feel free to modify the amount of the spices to your preference.
How to Store Homemade Japanese Curry Roux
The roux can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for a month or in the freezer for 3-4 months. I recommend cutting the block of roux into cubes. Then, you can add pieces as you need in your curry recipe.
Japanese Curry Powder
The most notable Japanese curry powder is the S&B brand that comes in a tiny red can. It has a slightly sweet and rounded flavor, and it is the most common curry powder that many Japanese homes and restaurants use in making their curry dishes.
You can use other brands of curry powder. However, to achieve the authentic Japanese flavor, I strongly recommend using S&B Curry Powder for making the homemade curry roux. These days you can buy the S&B Curry Powder on Amazon.
Can’t find S&B Curry Powder?
To learn how to make your own Homemade Japanese Curry Powder, visit this pantry page.
What is Garam Masala?
Garam masala is a warming spice with a sharp and pungent flavor and this spice blend is used to add flavor and color to dishes. Depending on spice shops or home recipes, the blend varies. It typically contains:
- Cardamom
- Cinnamon
- Clove
- Coriander
- Cumin – nice to add more for curry
- Mace
- Mustard seeds
- Nutmeg
- Peppercorns
- Red chili pepper
Some of the spices overlap with Japanese curry powder and that’s okay. You can always tweak your own homemade curry powder blend as you like through trial and error.
What to Make with Japanese Curry Roux
With the homemade curry roux, you will be eager to start cooking a myriad of Japanese curry dishes at any time. Here are some delicious recipes you can make with homemade curry roux:
- Japanese Chicken Curry
- Instant Pot Japanese Curry
- Soup Curry
- Japanese Beef Curry
- Katsu Curry
- Curry Udon
- Japanese Seafood Curry
- Cold Curry Udon
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How to Make Japanese Curry Roux
Video
Ingredients
- 3.5 oz unsalted butter (7 Tbsp)
- 3.5 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour) (about ¾ cup; please weigh your flour; click the Metric button for weights; or learn how to measure flour with a measuring cup; use GF flour or rice flour for gluten-free)
- 4 Tbsp Japanese curry powder (I recommend S&B Curry Powder; available on Amazon)
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Before You Start: I highly encourage you to weigh your flour and butter using a kitchen scale. For weights, click the Metric button above. If you don't have a scale, here's how to measure flour with a measuring cup: Fluff the flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into the measuring cup, and level it off. Otherwise, you may scoop more than you need.
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make a Brown Roux
- In a small saucepan, melt 3.5 oz unsalted butter over low to medium-low heat (you can cut the butter into small pieces first).
- When the butter is completely melted, add 3.5 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour). With a blunt-end wooden spatula, stir to combine the butter and flour.
- Soon, the butter and flour will fuse and swell. Cook for 20–25 minutes over low heat. Stir constantly because the roux burns easily. If the roux starts separating, switch to a whisk and mix vigorously.
- The roux will turn golden brown. You can even go for a bit darker color (watch my video).
To Make the Curry Roux
- Add 4 Tbsp Japanese curry powder, 1 Tbsp garam masala, and ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional) to the roux. Tip: If you can‘t find garam masala, you can add more curry powder or (individual garam masala spices) in its place.
- Cook and stir for 30 seconds and remove from the heat. You can use the roux immediately (see the instructions below) or mold it into a block.
To Mold into a Block (overnight)
- Transfer the roux to a glass or metal container lined with parchment paper. Let it cool completely on the kitchen counter, then refrigerate to solidify overnight.
- The next day, take out the curry block from the container. If the curry block gets stuck to the container, release it with a butter knife or an offset spatula.
- With a sharp knife, cut the block into 8 cubes, about 1 x 1 inch (2.5 x 2.5 cm) each. Transfer the curry roux squares to a glass container.
To Store
- Store in the refrigerator for 1 month or in the freezer for 3–4 months. Use them soon for the best flavor and aroma.
To Use in a Curry Recipe
- Very important! Please season your final dish with more salt, as the homemade roux is unsalted. I usually add 2–4 tsp salt per block to the broth of my curry sauce recipe. Store-bought curry roux is quite salty, so you may want to add more salt to achieve a similar taste.
- Add the roux cubes or curry roux mixture (before it solidifies) to the broth of your curry recipe. Follow the recipe instructions on when to add it. Try it in recipes like my Chicken Curry, Instant Pot Curry, Vegetarian Curry, Beef Curry, Keema Curry, and Curry Udon.
- How much roux should we use? Roughly 6–7 cubes of this recipe are equivalent to one box of store-bought curry roux (that requires 4 cups or 1L of broth/water). Simmer over low heat for 5–10 minutes. Heat will thicken the roux.
- If the curry flavor is lacking or the curry does not thicken, add more roux. When you add meat and/or veggies, they release more moisture to the broth; therefore, you will need to adjust the amount of roux you use according to what you’re cooking.
Equipment
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on March 18, 2013. The video and new images were added in August 2018. The recipe was revised and the post was updated with new images and blog content in October 2021.
Hello! Noticed the recipe has changed from this:
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp garam masala
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
To this:
3.5 oz unsalted butter (7 Tbsp)
3.5 oz all-purpose flour (plain flour) (¾ cup)
4 Tbsp Japanese curry powder
1 Tbsp garam masala
½ tsp cayenne pepper
Just wondering, why the change? Also, the new recipe seems to make much more roux – is that correct?
Appreciate your great recipe!
Hi Adam! Yes! I’ll be publishing the updated (new) video this Wednesday and will add the new video to the recipe card soon (sorry it’s not the same recipe at the moment).
I have finally revised the recipe after going through readers’ feedback (since 2013) and re-testing multiple times. I will never change my recipe unless I believe it’s a good change, and I’m extremely happy with this updated and improved version as it works so much nicer and more comparable to the store-bought curry roux. The flavor and texture we’re looking for in Japanese curry. Also, it’s almost 1:1 substitution for store-bought curry, which makes it so much easier for readers who decide to choose a store-bought or homemade roux.
So that’s why. It’s been bothering me for the past 2 years, and I finally got it done!
Confession: I make curry about every 6 weeks, using this recipe. I make the roux the night before, so when I started cooking the other night and the recipe had changed, I found myself in a tsukemono: stay with the tried and true or test the new recipe. I’m a creature of habit, but this time I went rouxgue (rolling my eyes at myself). I tried the new version.
Verdict: The new recipe was an instant winner with me and my family. Maybe it’s not too surprising I liked it because it tracks the modifications I make to the original roux and curry recipes, including reducing the garam masala relative to the other ingredients and reducing the chicken stock (to better match the amount of roux for a thickness level close to what we like in our house). With the new recipe, the modifications are unnecessary. I’d take this recipe over the boxed curry blocks any day.
Hi Adam! Thank you for your kind feedback and I’m so glad to hear this new version worked out great! Thank you so much for letting me know. You’ve made my day! 🤗
Hello! I was wondering if I can add aromatics in the roux like garlic and ginger or even caramelized onions. It would help whenever I want to cut down the time to make curry.
Hello, Ruu. Thank you for trying out Nami’s recipe.
We typically add the ingredients to the curry while it is cooking, rather than incorporating them into the roux itself. Using them in powder form might work, but there’s a possibility that they won’t solidify well with the other ingredients. Please let us know how it turns out if you decide to give it a try!
Instead of adding salt to the recipe the roux is going in, would it work to add the 2-4 tsp of salt into the roux directly before letting it sit over night?
Hi, Chang! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
It should work, but we’ve never tried it before. If you attempt it, please let us know how it goes.
I tried this recipe with Kerrygold butter and the roux turned out thick (not liquid as in the video) when I added the curry spices. I heard that Kerrygold has a higher fat percentage than regular American butter. I measured equal parts butter and flour in grams, so I don’t believe I had too much flour. Is there a specific type of butter you would recommend for this recipe?
Hi Sarah! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
Kerrygold butter has a higher fat content and lower water content than American butter, but it is excellent and has a wonderful flavor. If your roux turned out thick, that’s perfectly fine; it will still work well for making curry.
We hope this helps!
I used Kerrygold butter as well – the initial roux turned very thick and lumpy for 5 minutes or so and then the sauce turned much thinner and more runny as the flour became evenly hydrated with the butter. I just kept mixing and whisking.
I do also want to try this recipe with lard or beef tallow instead of butter.
Can I use the roux right away or do I need to wait overnight until it solidifies?
Hi Yuko, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
You may add unsolidified roux to your curry. However, if you are using a pressure cooker to make the curry, we recommend adding the unsolidified roux after the pressure cooking process.
Hope this helps!
Hi! I was wondering what I could use as a substitute for the butter? I’m currently on an elimination diet and can’t have dairy, eggs, soy, wheat. 😔
Hi, Nic! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
Coconut oil might be a better option in this circumstance. However, you might notice a hint of coconut flavor.
We hope this works for you.😀
Hi. I’m making a batch with 2/3 olive oil and 1/3 butter right now. I’ve made it with olive oil before and a bit extra flour, and it worked well. I love that this also has no salt.
if substituting rice flour for ap flour is it an equal substitution? 3.5oz for 3.5oz?
Additionally if i am making a larger batch of roux for a larger batch of curry, just make use about 7oz of roux/recipe?
Hi Dan, Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
We’ve never made this roux with rice flour before. A reader commented that it needed additional flour, so try using an equal amount first and add more as needed. For a larger batch of curry, please adjust the amount of roux. This recipe is perfect for 4 cups of liquid curry. Hope this helps!
Hi! If making your chicken curry recipe, how much of this curry roux do you use?
Hi, Tara! Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
If you are cooking 8 servings of chicken curry and need 4 cups of stock, you will need approximately 6-7 cubes (one batch of this roux).
More details can be found in the note area below the recipe card. I hope this helps!
I tried this recipe and had to add water because the consistency was too thick. Any advice?
Hello, Fatima. Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe.
Did you weigh the flour with a scale? If you used a cup, it could be overpacked, resulting in more flour than the recipe calls for.
We hope this post helps.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-measure-flour/
I’m gluten free and I have been searching for a gf version of Japanese curry roux. This is the first time that I found a scratch recipe that I can convert.
I will try this using rice flour and if that fails I will try an all purpose gf flour mix. I think rice flour will work. I’m looking forward to having some curry!
Thank you.
Hi Charlotte! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
We hope you can have some curry soon. 🥰 Happy Cooking!