Vegan Coconut Curry Recipe in 4 Simple Steps

This vegan coconut curry recipe is simple to make and oh-so-tasty, two important recipe requirements! Although it isn’t complicated to prepare, its complexity of flavours might just impress your friends and family!

You can make this mild or you can make it spicy! Cook it in advance and you’ll have dinner ready for your guests without working hands-on while they wait. And as with all curry dishes, it improves in depth of flavour if not eaten straight away.

Simply re-heat and enjoy!

How to Make a Vegan Coconut Curry

The main flavours of this tangy, spicy, coconut curry recipe come from garlic, ginger, chilli, cumin, coriander, turmeric, sweet paprika, fresh parsley (or fresh coriander if you have some) and the juice from half a lemon. And of course the coconut milk.

Principal Ingredients for this Vegan Coconut Curry

The main ingredients of this curry are chickpeas, tofu, coconut milk and lots of vegetables.

Which vegetables you use is up to you – I just throw in whatever I have in the fridge when I’m making the curry.

But if I were to go shopping specifically for my curry, then they would be: onion, leek, carrot, red pepper, sprouts, broccoli, mushrooms and a tomato.

General Method for Making Coconut Curry

Heat the oil and add the garlic, ginger and chilli. Next add the onion and cook for 2 minutes on medium high heat with a sprinkle of salt.

Add the leek, spices and fresh parsley if using. Go on adding the vegetables according to their hardness. With my veggies of choice for example, the next one would be the carrots for 2 mins, then the red pepper and sliced sprouts and broccoli, followed by the mushrooms.

After the mushrooms have cooked a little, it’s time to add the jar of chickpeas and cook-fry the whole lot in the saucepan for a few minutes before adding a dash of soy sauce.

Add the chopped tomato and cook to reduce the tomato shape before pouring in some water and cooking the whole curry for about 20 minutes on a low heat.

Finally add 1 packet of tofu cut into small cubes and 3/4 of a tin of coconut milk, and continue to cook.

Taste the curry and add lemon juice to taste. Adjust the salt as necessary and consider whether to add more soy sauce and a grinding of black pepper.

I prefer to make this curry really hot ‘n spicy because it develops layers of flavours and creates an amazing contrast between the creamy coconut, spicy chilli and twist of lemon. But of course, not everyone likes spice and it can also be made mild.

Serve this curry with rice or quinoa on the side and enjoy!

Vegan Coconut Curry Soup

After eating this as a curry with rice, use the leftovers to make a delicious soup for the following day. If you’ve got more rice left than you need in the soup, you can make a vegan Nasi with the surplus rice. I like to cook extra and use it to create new things the next day.

For the soup, simply add some homemade vegetable stock to the curry and reheat. Next, add some of the leftover rice to the soup and stir. Taste the soup and add what’s needed, either some more tomato favour such as tomato purée, or soy sauce or more coconut milk.

The basic soup is done, all you need to do is tweak it to get the best out of it and you’ll have a delicious soup in no time at all.

As with all soups, it will be much more flavoursome if you make it in advance and let it cool and then reheat to serve.

Once it’s all mixed, turn off the heat and let it stand. Reheat when you’re ready to eat!