National Curry Week 2026 runs from 5th to 11th October, celebrating the nation’s love of curry – and there’s no better excuse to bring some serious flavour to your kitchen.

This October, Make it Scotch is putting a Scottish spin on the cuisine, swapping in tender Scotch Beef, succulent Scotch Lamb and Prime Scottish Pork for three showstopping curry-inspired dishes that prove world-class flavour and world-class provenance go hand in hand.

Whether you’re slow-cooking a rich Scotch Beef Rendang, putting together a quick and vibrant Scotch Lamb Pilaf or crisping up a Prime Scottish Pork Katsu, each recipe brings together bold spice with quality, taste and texture.

Scotch Beef Rendang

Prep: 40 mins

Cook: 2 hours

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 600g lean diced Scotch Beef

For the Rendang paste:

  • 2 x lemongrass stalks, roughly chopped
  • 4 x red chillies, roughly chopped
  • 2 x large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
  • 60g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

For the Rendang:

  • 1 x tbsp Scottish rapeseed oil
  • 200ml reduced fat coconut milk
  • 30g desiccated coconut, lightly toasted in the oven
  • 2 x kaffir lime leaves, coarsely chopped or ripped
  • 20g tamarind paste
  • 5g light brown sugar
  • 20g Fish sauce
  • 500ml water

For the rice:

  • 1 x tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 2 x tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 x tsp turmeric
  • 6 x curry leaves
  • 220g basmati rice
  • 1 x low salt chicken stock cube
  • 500ml water

Cooking Method

For the Rendang:

  1. Make the curry paste by blending the lemongrass, ginger, chilli and onions in a food processor until smooth.
  2. Heat a heavy based pan, add the rapeseed oil and fry the paste for 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the diced Scotch Beef and mix well.
  4. Fry for a further 3-4 minutes to brown the beef.
  5. Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and 500ml water.
  6. Bring to the boil then lower to a gentle simmer.
  7. Meanwhile, toast the desiccated coconut in the oven for five minutes until golden.
  8. Allow to cool then blend until broken up into smaller pieces. Set aside until needed.
  9. After 1hr 30 minutes of the beef simmering, add the desiccated coconut, tamarind, sugar and lime leaves to the rendang beef mix.
  10. Simmer for a further 30 minutes.
  11. When the beef is tender and falling apart the curry is ready.

Easy Scotch Lamb Pilaf

Prep: 28 mins

Cook: 15 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 600g lean Scotch Lamb leg steak, trimmed and sliced
  • 1 large red onion
  • 1 lemon
  • 115g Soft dried apricots, chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • A pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp clear honey
  • 2 x 250g packs cooked red and white quinoa
  • 390g can cooked green lentils, drained
  • You can use any ready-cooked grain in this recipe, and other canned pulses like small aduki beans or cannellini beans will work perfectly. You could also add some peas and sweetcorn to add pops of colour and extra fibre to the pilaf. Or switch the lamb strips for lean beef steak or pork fillet.

Cooking Method

  1. Heat half the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion, stirring for 2 minutes.
  2. Add the lemon juice, lower the heat, cover and gently cook for 15 minutes until softened and pink.
  3. Turn off the heat, add the lemon rind, apricots, cinnamon and a little seasoning, re-cover and leave to stand.
  4. Put the lamb in a bowl and mix in the cumin, honey and a little seasoning.
  5. Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and stir fry the lamb for 6-7 minutes until just cooked through. Cover and leave to stand whilst finishing the pilaf.
  6. Add the quinoa and lentils to the fruity onion mixture. Stir, and heat for 3-4 minutes until thoroughly hot. Then mix in the lamb, and heat through for a further 1 minutes.
  7. Add to serving plates and sprinkle with mint and pomegranate seeds to garnish.
  8. Accompany with low fat natural yogurt and fresh lemon.

Prime Scottish Pork Katsu with Pickled Cucumber & Carrot Salad

Prep: 25-30mins

Cook: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

  • 4 Prime Scottish Pork Chops or 4 Prime Scottish Pork Loin Medallions with excess fat trimmed
  • 50g plain flour
  • 2 medium eggs, beaten
  • 50g panko breadcrumbs (or dried breadcrumbs) mixed with 1 tbsp garlic granules
  • Sunflower oil

For the katsu curry sauce:

  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, finely diced
  • 1 orange or yellow pepper, finely diced
  • 3cm chunk of ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
  • 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped or grated
  • 1 tbsp medium or mild curry powder
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • ½ – 1 tbsp reduced salt soy sauce
  • ½ – 1 tbsp honey or sugar

For the pickled carrot and cucumber salad:

  • 1 cucumber, peeled into ribbons leaving the watery core behind
  • 1 large carrot, peeled into ribbons leaving the core behind
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Coriander to garnish (optional)
  • Toasted black and white sesame seeds to garnish (optional)
  • Extra lime wedges
  • Couple spring onions to garnish (optional), finely sliced
  • Brown or white rice to serve

Cooking Method

  1. Place the cucumber and carrot ribbons into a small bowl. Add the lime juice, sugar and salt and mix well. Leave to pickle at room temperature while you get on with the rest of the recipe.
  2. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/200°C. Tip the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs into three separate bowls. Lightly dust the pork first in the flour, tapping off the excess. Then dip into the beaten egg so they are completely coated and finally put them into the bowl with the breadcrumbs and press the breadcrumbs into the pork so they are completely coated and there are no gaps.
  3. Start the katsu sauce by adding the sunflower oil to a small saucepan over a medium heat. Add the diced onion, carrot and pepper and fry gently for 4-5 minutes until softened.
  4. Once the vegetables are soft, add the ginger, garlic and curry powder, stir for a couple of minutes, making sure they don’t burn. Pour in the chicken stock then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer while you cook the pork, adding a splash of water if necessary.
  5. Add enough sunflower oil to a large frying pan so there is roughly a cm of oil in the base of the pan. Heat the oil over a medium/high heat. The oil is hot enough when you drop a breadcrumb into the oil and it begins to sizzle straight away and turns golden within 20 seconds. Very carefully place the pork medallions into the pan and fry on both sides for 2-3 minutes until golden brown and crispy, then place them on a baking tray and finish cooking in the oven for 5 minutes until the pork is completely cooked. Once cooked, set it aside to rest. (For a healthier version, spray the breadcrumbed pork on both sides with vegetable oil spray and air fry at 180°C fan/200°C for 12-15 minutes until golden, crispy and completely cooked through).
  6. Taste the katsu sauce, adding soy and honey to taste. You can either leave the sauce as it is for a chunkier texture, or take the pan off the heat and use a hand blender to blitz it until smooth, it should be quite thick and smooth.
  7. Slice the pork and serve with the sauce, pickled salad and cooked rice.
  8. Fry your eggs in the same pan you cooked the burgers in and cook to your liking. Then assemble your burgers with some rocket, a generous dollop of the bacon chilli jam, top with the patties and fried egg and enjoy.

However you choose to spice up your kitchen this National Curry Week, make sure quality is on the menu too. Every time you see the blue Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb or Prime Scottish Pork logo on pack, you’re choosing meat that’s quality assured and of the highest standard at every stage, from farm to fork.

For more recipe inspiration, head to makeitscotch.com.

By Recipes