Creamy Coconut Vegetarian Korma
This easy to make Creamy Coconut Vegetarian Korma makes a great go-to Meatless Monday meal. It's naturally paleo and gluten-free and can easily be made vegan. Serve it with a side of basmati rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice for a quick and delicious dinner.
Is there anything better than a bowl of curry to make you feel good? Indian is some of my all-time favorite comfort food, and a vegetarian korma is right up there with my fav curries.
Butter chicken (or even Vegan Butter Chicken) is another fav. It's so hard to choose my #1 favorite dish. Are you the same way?
Seriously, if I had to choose a last meal, I'd never be able to. I'd want Indian curry, Thai curry, some Chinese food for sure, Mexican (obvs!), a giant pan of lasagna, and some Greek food. There's clearly too much delicious food out there. How's a girl to choose her fav?!!
One thing's for sure, this vegetarian korma would be part of the giant last meal smorgasbord. It's so rich and creamy and has TONS of flavor. It's also naturally paleo (awesome!) and can easily be made vegan (double awesome!!)
Clear out your fridge with this coconut vegetarian korma recipe
The thing I love about making vegetarian korma (aside from the fact that it is SO EASY to whip up last minute) is that the recipe is really flexible. You can mix and match the veggies and use whatever you like and have on hand.
I sometimes like to add some medium tofu to the mix. It has a texture similar to the Indian cheese, paneer. If you want to make this into not a vegetarian korma, you could definitely add some chicken.
I love to serve this with some quinoa on the side, but my handsome man prefers traditional basmati rice. He usually wins.
One thing we always do is order some naan to go with it. There's little Indian restaurant at the end of the block that makes great naan, but terrible curry. Seriously, it's so bad that the one time I ordered it I couldn't even finish it. It was completely flavorless. Anyway, we always order naan from them, and I think they laugh at our weird takeout order every time.
Curry has always been feel-good comfort food in our house. It's a go-to dinner when we want something familiar and warm. It's also super easy to make and next to impossible to mess up. If you run out of one of the spices, you can always add a little extra of another spice. Curries, like this vegetarian korma, are flexible and you definitely don't need to stress over them.
Most of the time, I add coconut milk to my curry recipes. We love how creamy it makes the curry without having to add any dairy. It also adds a delicious flavor that we can't live without.
We like to top the vegetarian korma with some crunchy cashews, sweet raisins, and a little lemon. I've listed them as optional ingredients, but I wouldn't recommend skipping them. They're my favorite part!
Enjoy, my friends!
Easy Vegan Curry Recipes:
- Creamy Coconut Lentil Curry
- Black Chickpea Curry
- Coconut Black Lentil Curry
- Chickpea Tofu and Eggplant Curry
- Coconut Acorn Squash Curry
Coconut Vegetarian Korma
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
The Veggies
- 2 medium potatoes, cut into small, bite-sized pieces
- 4 cups mixed chopped vegetables, cauliflower, carrots, beans, bell peppers, corn, and peas all work well
The Vegetarian Korma Sauce
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed with the back of a knife
- 5.5 ounce can of tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon each: curry powder and garam masala
- 1 ½ teaspoons each: cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom
- 1-2 teaspoons sea salt
- ½ teaspoon each: ground cloves, fennel, fenugreek and chili flakes
- 1 can coconut milk
- ½ cup cashews
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup yogurt, omit or use vegan yogurt for vegan
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar, sub coconut sugar or honey for paleo
- Top with any or all: cashews, cilantro, lemon, and raisins
Instructions
- Add the potatoes to a medium-sized pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Let the potatoes boil for 5 minutes then add the rest of the veggies to the pot. Let them boil for another 5 minutes then drain the pot and set it aside.2 medium potatoes, 4 cups mixed chopped vegetables
- While the veggies are cooking, start preparing the vegetarian korma sauce. Heat the oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more.1 tablespoon oil, 1 large onion, 2 inch piece of ginger, 4 cloves garlic
- Remove the pot from the heat and add the tomato paste and all of the spices. Stir well then return the pot to the heat. When the spices are fragrant and the tomato paste caramelized, after about 1 minute, add the coconut milk, cashews, lemon juice and 1 ¼ cups of water. Let the pot boil for 5 minutes to soften the cashews.5.5 ounce can of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon each: curry powder and garam masala, 1 ½ teaspoons each: cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, ½ teaspoon each: ground cloves, fennel, fenugreek and chili flakes, 1 can coconut milk, ½ cup cashews, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 1-2 teaspoons sea salt
- Working in batches, blend the curry until it is smooth then add it back to the pot. Stir through the yogurt and brown sugar and add more sea salt, if needed. Stir the veggies into the curry and serve immediately topped with any or all of the toppings.½ cup yogurt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, Top with any or all: cashews, cilantro, lemon, and raisins
Notes
Pair with steamed basmati rice or cauliflower rice
Does cashew butter (assume roasted but jar doesn’t say) work as a sub for the whizzed cashews? Or is there a sub for the cashews because I’d prefer not to wash up a food processor if necessary 🙂
I have used cashew butter from a jar and it works well in curry recipes. It adds a bit more flavor since it is roasted, but it’s tasty!
Best korma recipe I’ve ever tried.
Getting ready to make this. A question – can one make the korma sauce the day before snd then reheat?
Oh yes! This reheats beautifully so you could definitely make the sauce in advance.
I have never commented on a recipe before but this was truly excellent and I just had to let you know how much my husband and I enjoyed it. The spices are perfect! I have been cooking Indian curries for years and this is by far our favorite. First time I’ve ever used fennel in an Indian dish and loved it! Could not find fenugreek. Used coconut milk yogurt. No sugar. Doubled the veggies and still had lots of sauce. Oh, and couldn’t blend it, as we are living in our RV without a blender, and it was still so good! Can’t wait to try it blended someday! You’ve created a recipe we’ll use regularly through the years! I’m now anxious to try some of your others!
This is a superb Korma sauce. Love it. I have made it and yet to to serve it up to the family. My only criticism would be next time, to cut back on the tomato paste. Here in the UK, tomato paste is highly concentrated and it tastes of just a bit too much tomato. Otherwise I think its superb. Definitely doing it again.
Thank you for such a superb vegan friendly whole food plant bases recipe.
This was so good! I used almonds so I didn’t have to go to the store and I had to leave out the fenugreek just because I didn’t have it. Also missing sweet potato, but had butternut squash in the freezer. So glad this was an easily adaptable recipe, Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Delicious! I didn’t blend the sauce as I’d used whole cardamom pods, and enjoyed having the whole cashew nuts in the final meal… but I can see that blending the nuts would create a creamier texture.
This was lovely. The second time i made it i didnt have cashew nuts but used ground almonds, and i didnt blend it. Still delicious.
Hello Kristen 🙂
Can’t wait to make this recipe!
I have coconut cream at home. Can I use that instead of coconut milk?
Thank you in advance
Yes! It will make it even richer and more creamy. 🙂
I’ve never commented on a recipe before, however I just want to say thank you. I’ve just started learning how to cook as I’m 18 and would like to know how to cook for college. I’m slowly transitioning to veganism and Indian food has always been a favorite of mine due to its intense spices and how easily vegan it can be. This was perfect. I haven’t had truly good Indian food since I went to the city a few years ago, but this was just as good (maybe even better!). It took me a while to make the dish, but that was because I’m a beginner and I wanted to get it perfect lol. My mom loved it — it was nice making her such good food as she works 24/7 and never has time to cook a proper meal for herself. I will definitely be making this weekly. Again, thank you!
You are so very welcome, Sarah! I’m really happy that you enjoyed the recipe. So nice of you to cook for your mom!
And I think that you might also enjoy this vegan curry recipe: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/creamy-coconut-lentil-curry/ It’s very easy to cook and big on flavor. Makes great leftovers, too!
Hei I have not made it. But I wonder what you mean with 1 2-inch ginger. Is it 1 inch? 12 inch? Or 2 or between 1 and 2 inch?
1 5.5 oz tomato. Is it 15.5 oz ?? The space confused me since we dont use inches around here. Thanks.
Sorry for the confusion! It’s one piece of ginger that is about 2 inches long. And one 5.5 ounce can of tomato. 🙂
Sooooooo good. I did put chicken instead of potatoes and didn’t have all of the spices. Oops. This was even so much better the next day! I am going to prepackage the slices measured out in baggies because this one is going into regular rotation. Yummy!!!
Hi, This sounds delicious and want to make it for sure, but what is tomato paste, I have Tomato puree, passata or tinned tomatoes, but haven’t heard of a paste option before. I am in UK if that makes a difference?
Thank you!
Tomato paste is very thick. Sometimes it’s also sold in tubes. I think in the UK it may be referred to as tomato puree or tomato concentrate.
Easy to make and was delicious
OMG, I just made this. It turned out beautifully. Thank you. This will be one of my regular meals from now on. Hubby absolutely loves it.
We loved this!!! We added lots of other veggies, used coconut yogurt to keep it vegan, and topped with tempeh – it was fabulous. We made some spice adjustments based on what we had, too. Would definitely recommend and absolutely make again.
I’m so happy that you loved the recipe! Yay!
Thank you. Absolutely beautiful, best korma we’ve had ( and we love our curries!). I added 2 tablespoons of ground almonds as we like a thick sauce.
This is good. Followed exactly (missed the yogurt) didn’t know if the cardamon was whole or just the insides, so emptied a bunch of them and ground them.
Used sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, carrot and kale.
Really very good. Added a little drizzle of tamarind to serve.
Really nice, I made it for tea, delicious but next time will add more vegetables
I think I’m quite savvy in the kitchen, however found this recipe to take much longer than 30 minutes, and the instructions were quite vague. If I didn’t turn off my veggies (which wasn’t in the instructions) they would have turned to mush with the time it took to make and blend the sauce. I never leave reviews on recipes, but was so disappointed in this (especially after reading all the glowing reviews) that I felt I had to, to show some truth.
It actually says in step 1 to set the veggies aside after you drain the pot. I’m sorry that it took you longer than expected to cook the recipe!
I haven’t made this yet but rates a 5 star already!! I love anything curry & coconut!! Can I use seafood or meats in this sauce? I usually make my own tomato paste with sundried tomatoes in oil by draining excess oil & putting them in the blender & blend to a paste adding a touch of black pepper. Can I use this in this recipe instead of the usual tomato paste?
Thank you Kristen
This recipe is really flexible so you can definitely add some protein or switch up the veggies. It’s all about the sauce … and I can only imagine that your incredible sounding homemade tomato paste would make it even better!
The best flavor profile (from scratch) I’ve ever made myself! Not too oily either, such helpful explanations of steps. Thank you. ( My vegetarian additions included mushrooms, firm tofu cubes, and green beans)
Could this be made and then frozen? I’m looking to make a bunch of frozen meals for my sister and brother-in-law who are expecting a baby soon.
Yes! The only thing I would caution you about is not to use potatoes if you want to freeze it. They’ll turn gritty once frozen. But you can substitute other veggies instead. 🙂
lovely, only thing i leave out is the blending and yogurt. its a weekly thing now
Excellent. I make it very often. Thank you
That’s so great to hear, Claudia! Thank you for the comment!
Potatos are out, per my husbands diet. Can something be substituted? Or the potatos left out?
This recipe is really flexible. You can keep the sauce as is and swap the veggies for the ones you like. 🙂
I don’t normally leave comments but this was SUPERB! Tasted restaurant-made. Made exactly as written. Took me longer than stated (1hr total) but I tend to be a slow cook. Easy to make, plentiful (with rice will be enough for 2-3 meals for 2 pple with small-medium appetites), versatile, balanced spices, just delicious. Hoping to freeze the sauce for quick meals. I wouldn’t add the lemon again when serving but definitely keep adding cashews and raisins. I might also reduce the tomato a bit next time, or substitute tamarind, but just personal preference. For what it’s worth, my mother threatened me with bodily harm if I changed anything. I’m so thrilled I found this blog and I love that Kristen’s local to my area. Thank you!
haha I love it!!!
I haven’t made this yet, but the plan is to make it tonight. (Korma is my husbands favourite Indian dish) and looks like the best recipe for Korma I could find on the internet, that is why I gave it 5 stars ?. I will add white and sweet potatoes plus veggies I have in the fridge that need to be used up; however, I am allergic to tomatoes, any suggestions on a substitute or omitting will be just as tasty? We are also plant based so I will only use Coconut cream instead of yogurt.
Leaving out the tomatoes paste will change the flavor, but I imagine that it would still be delicious!
I suggest trying tamarind instead of tomatoes. The tomato really grounds this sauce so it would be a shame to lose that. Tamarind has a similar flavour profile to sour plums, sweet lemons, acidic tomatoes/tomato paste (tangy, acidic, tart, fruity). You can find it in most Asian (east, south-east, south) food stores and in non-asian grocery stores with decent “international” food sections, either as block of paste or in a pot as concentrate. I heart tamarind in a big way, and it’s a fabulous tomato substitute. I hope it works for you!
Thanks for the suggestion, Nicola!
I made this today and it was so good! Tasted just like a korma, I did half the spice amount for every spice, and totally omitted the fenugreek and fennel. I will be using this as a base korma sauce for some variations of the dish in the near future! What a find – thanks.
Thank you so much, Lucy!
Really delicious! My other half said it’s the nicest curry we have made together.
That is so wonderful to hear!!
It was delicious. My first time making Indian food (which I love) and it all worked out really well. I have 2 quick questions that I’m hoping you can help me with. 1) What kind of beans do you use? Canned? What type? and 2) How do you blend the batches? Do you pour from the sauce pan right into the blender? Looking for your expert tips 🙂 Thanks again for sharing this great recipe. So excited to make it again!
I use green beans in this recipe. Canned chickpeas would be nice, too! Blending is the only tricky part if you’re blender isn’t big enough to hold all the curry. Often I’ll blend as much as I can (scooping it with a ladle into the blender) then pouring the blended part into a new pot. If you have an immersion blender, it will work great with this recipe as you can blend the curry right in the pot!
Hi! I’m so excited I found your website! I can’t wait to make the veggie korma. To clarify, does the recipe call for cumin, coriander, and fennel seeds or powder? Thanks!
I like the powdered versions!
Soooooo good!!!
You have to try this recipe!
Horray!!
Thanks for this recipe. I’m sure its a really nice recipe, but something went wrong when I made it. Especially cardamom but also the cloves tasted way too strong and in the front.
I grounded the cloves and the inner cardamom seeds myself. Did you use cardamom-powder or whole cardamom pods? And how about the cloves?
Hoping to hear from you, cause I want to try again!
Kind regards!
If you’re grinding your own spices, you’ll want to use less. They are always more potent when you grind them yourself. 🙂
Hi! I’d love to try this but also have the same question as the above poster. Should I use cardamom & clove powder or whole?
Thank you!
I use whole cardamom (broken open a little then discarded before serving) and clove powder. If you use whole cloves, make sure to remove them as they’re not nice to bite into. 🙂
This is an amazing recipe. Don’t mind the comments that say it’s too watery or too spicy – we are big Indian lovers and this recipe is perfection. I have made it with the veg as is calls for, but I have also made the Korma sauce and used chicken instead. Either way it’s to die for. Very well balanced with the spice and the sweet from the honey. This recipe is a keeper in our family that’s for certain. Thank you for sharing such a great meal.
That makes me so happy to hear! Hooray!
I’ve made this recipe a bunch of times with some adjustments. It used to come out super red and dark not like the picture if I used the whole can of paste and no yogurt. I only use a light sprinkle of cardamon and clove powders. It tastes too bitter to me to use all of it. I use half a can of tomato taste. I omit yogurt and use two cans of coconut milk. I also add a serrano or jalapeno in with the onion and ginger and garlic. This is SUCH a great vegan recipe.
I’m so happy to hear you enjoy the recipe!
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, I’m doing it over the weekend but I’m still rating it a 5 star ? just from reading the spice list. I use spice all the time and I love that there’s a good dose in the recipe.
My daughter has just gone vegan and I was searching for recipes I could make so thank you in advance, I can’t wait to try it.
I love it! I hope that you enjoy the recipe as much as we do!
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but wondered if it would be freezer friendly?
It freezes very well!
This recipe was amazing! I made it last night for some family visiting and it was a hit! everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. I paired it with veggie pakora and mint chutney!
That is so great to hear! Thank you for taking the time to come back to let us know!
This is the best recipe for coconut korma that I’ve found! It’s an easy recipe to follow. The recipe tastes great as written, but it’s also fun to experiment and find flavors/textures to suite your taste buds.
I’m so happy to hear that!
Made this tonight- first time ever attempting Indian without using a premade sauce. I omitted the chili flakes and only used half the garam masala only because I’m a wimp with spices and I was making it for the kiddos. Couldn’t find fenugreek but it was still super yummy!
My question is do you use frozen mixed veggies or fresh? I did frozen but was wondering
I use fresh veggies! But frozen would work, too. 🙂
What sort of curry powder do you use? There are different brands and styles here in Australia, and they all taste a bit different, containing slightly different ingredients. The easiest brands to find in my area are Keen’s, Clive of India, and Hoyt’s. Are any of these similar to what you are using in your recipe? I don’t want to muck up the flavour (it sounds delicious) by using the wrong curry powder so I thought I’d ask before making it! There are also pre-blended curry powders in the style of the various curries eg korma, madras etc curry blend (Herbie’s brand here is quite good). Should I be using a korma curry powder blend rather than a generic ‘curry powder’?
If you have access to a korma curry powder, I would use that one. The one that I have is a generic curry powder. 🙂
I made this recipe today with my sister and nobody should bother following this as it doesn’t take remotely like a proper vegetarian korma, it just tastes like a less than average watery curry. Would NOT recommend this. Very disappointed.
I’m sorry to hear that it didn’t turn out like the vegetarian korma you are used to making.
100% ZOE ITO stuffed the recipe! I have a feeling she must have added the water from the vegetables. There is NO way this could be runny. I added a tad of water that I used to clean my blender. When my food was ready if I turned my fork upside down it took about 4 seconds for a chunk of sauce and veg to fall off. Far from watery!
Really nice, I love my Indian and I’d say dial back the spices a touch esp if you’re not adding the yoghurt. Will be making again, Thanks!
Hooray! I’m so happy that you love the recipe!
This was the creamiest most flavourful curry I’ve ever made. My partner and sister loved it. Maybe you did something wrong.
Do you have to the cashews? I have to be mindful of my partner’s nut allergies. This looks delicious.
Thanks!
No you can leave them out if they’re allergic!
Is there a quicker way to make this in the instant pot? Thank you in advance.
I’m sure there is but I haven’t tried it in an Instant Pot. If you give it a go, let us know if it works out!
hi there, I am going to try making this over the weekend. For the Fenugreek and Fennel should I be using the seeds or finding a powder?
Thank you.
I usually use powder but have swapped it for seeds when I’ve been out. 🙂
Wondering why you did not let my post I made yesterday go public?
My grandmother passed away and I have been spending time with my family rather than working. Your patience is appreciated. 🙂
This recipe is extremely spicy and I don’t mean chilli. I would reduce the spice content by over half. It was overbearing and too powerful – Warning – could cause indigestion! I think with less quantities of Masala, cardamom etc etc it would really be a deliciously fragrant dish.
Thank you for your input. 🙂
An excellent recipe for my first attempt with such spices. There were a few I had to miss because I am not a fan of coriander but I was so happy I tried it.
As I bought so many spices, I was wondering if you have any advice on how to store them to make sure they keep their flavour. I would hate to throw them away snd while I plan on using hem for other recipes, I don’t expect I will use them up very fast.
Thank you.
If you keep them in the freezer they will last longer!
I want to try this recipe out. I’ve never cooked with fennel or fenugreek spice before – do I use the seeds or should I grind the seeds into a powder?
Both work in this recipe. If you have seeds you don’t’ need to worry about grinding them. 🙂
Made this for myself today. Added the sauce to enough fresh veg for 2 days dinner for 1. I Jarred the remaining sauce to freeze. I am planning on doing a curry once a week and want to add fresh veg each time.
I had no fresh ginger so did 1tsp on dried and no curry powder so did double Garam. The curry is sweet, thick & delicious!!! I have saved a small jar to deliver to my mum to add to chicken… thank you for such a wonderful recipe 🙂
That is so wonderful to hear, Haley!
This recipe is fantastic. I go to my local Indian restaurant twice a month for this exact meal, but would go more often if it wasn’t so spendy. Regarding the commenters that mention this being way to spicy or spiced, I’m wondering if they’ve ever had this dish in an authentic Indian restaurant because this tastes exactly the way it should. I’m so happy to know that I can make this whenever I want now that I have all of the spices on hand. Everyone makes changes, so here are min:
Couldn’t find fenugreek, replaced with 1 tsp. maple syrup
Omitted sugar
Cut cardamom in half since I know it to be a strong flavor for me, probably didn’t need to
Omitted yogurt
Added 1/4 c. Earth Balance… stirred it in at the end and it somehow took the raw edge off the spices that I hadn’t cooked long enough.
Thank you for creating this recipe. I couldn’t wait for the rice to cook so I ate it out of a 1/2 cup measure over the sink… that’s how good it is.
I’m so happy you liked it! Hooray!!
LOL.I never ever comment but I laughed at your eating description….I have totally done things like that with yummy dishes! Glad I’m not the only one haha, thanks for sharing