Vegan Coconut Red Curry with Tofu & Vegetables

Flavourful vegan Coconut Red Curry with Tofu made from scratch with carefully selected highly aromatic herbs and spices, and seasonal vegetables. This curry is so easy to make and so delicious, you’ll be making it over and over again!

A Different Kind of Curry

Curries at our place are usually the Mauritian style like the Braised Tofu Curry, the Butter Beans Curry or the White Bean Curry, with somewhat our own spin. For a little change of things last week, I made a red curry, inspired by the Thai coconut red curry with a few twists and personal touch. 

This curry was so delicious that we had it for 3 days in a row! So, I thought I’d better write down the curry gravy base ingredients lest I forget the ratio, and start venturing on other curry spice blends.

What Gives Red Curry Its Colour and Flavour

What gives red curry its rich gorgeous reddish hue are, of course, the red chillies. There are various types of red chillies that you can use, and they will all give good results with subtle or bold differences in flavour, heat, and colour.

If you want great flavour and a beautiful red colour, I recommend adding a little Kashmiri chilli powder, also known as Kashmiri Mirch. It’s a medium-hot chilli powder with a bright red hue.

I’ve found that different brands, although labelled as Kashmiri chilli/Mirch, have different heat intensity. The one I use is medium-hot but may still be quite spicy depending on your tolerance. So, taste first or use sparingly, then adjust as needed.

In this red curry recipe, I am using a combination of mildly hot whole red chillies and medium-hot Kashmiri Mirch. If you can’t find these, you can substitute with cayenne pepper or any other chilli powder or paste.

A Simple Vegan Twist

Authentic Thai coconut red curry very often contains shrimp paste, which imparts both complex flavours and additional rich red colour to the sauce. In this version, I replace it with kombu broth, which is made by boiling a couple of kombu sheets or strips in water.

Kombu broth adds depth and dimension to the curry. It can also be made ahead and kept refrigerated for 3–4 days or frozen for longer, although I find it tastes best when freshly prepared.

Choosing the Vegetables

The choice of vegetables may vary depending on what you have on hand. I picked up a punnet full of small sunny yellow courgettes or zucchinis this week. They’re in season, at their peak flavour, and quite affordable.

Cauliflower is also reasonably priced at the moment, so I kept the vegetables seasonal for a sunny end-of-summer curry. But feel free to use what you have — butternut squash, carrots, green zucchini, or broccoli all work well.

You can also swap in chickpeas for the tofu for a soy-free option.

To Make the Curry

Vegan coconut red curry is fairly easy to make. The vegetables and tofu are sauteed separately and kept aside. The sauce ingredients are blended, then added to lightly roasted spices in a deep sauté pan.

Crushed tomatoes are added and simmered until reduced, allowing the colour to deepen and the flavour to concentrate.

The kombu broth and coconut milk are then added followed by the pre-cooked vegetables and tofu. Seasonings are added at this stage, and the curry is gently simmered for about 12-15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked through.

If you prefer a thicker sauce, increase the heat and let some of the liquid evaporate.

Serving Suggestions

Adjust seasonings if needed and garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Red curry is best served warm with fragrant boiled rice.

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