Mum’s Cà Ri Chay is an incredibly thick and creamy Vegetarian Vietnamese Curry that’s MADE for bread dunking! The vegetables are slow cooked until melt-in-your-mouth tender and infused in a rich pot of herbs and spices.
Experience the deliciousness all over again with our homemade chicken version!
Homage to Mum’s amazing cooking
For those of you who are still on the fence about vegetarian food, let me tell you this: Mum’s Cà Ri Chay will rock your world. I actually adore all her noodle soups, especially her Bún Riêu and Bánh Canh, but this recipe here is a game changer.
Seriously, just take one slurp and you won’t even miss the fact that it’s meat free!
This is actually her second time making it. The first time was simply because she was craving curry so she challenged herself to make a vegetarian version.
The second was because I had tasted it the first time, fallen in love with it, and asked her to teach me.
So here it is in all its glory: an incredibly aromatic Cà Ri Chay taken to a whole new level. And guess what? I’m sharing it here with you!
What you get is a beautifully buttery soup infused with a variety of sweet potatoes. These vegetables create a rich nutty fragrance that lasts from your first bread dunk to your last noodle slurp.
So what are you waiting for? Get onto it now to enjoy this delicious meal!
Why this recipe works
- Using condensed milk keeps the sweetness creamy yet subtle.
- Lightly frying the spices in oil brings out the aromatics for an added layer of flavor.
- The variety of of fresh ingredients keeps it exciting with tons of texture.
What you’ll need
Fresh Ingredients
About the produce
We use two types of sweet potato (the purple and orange type), but you can choose whichever you like or just stick to one. Regular potato is also a great choice to add in.
All of the fresh ingredients can be substituted with your favorite ones, except for the lemongrass and curry leaves which provide the dish its base flavor.
For the stir fry
About the seasoning
We get our curry powder from the Asian supermarket. Some are sold in jars while some in plastic packets. Be careful not to get it confused with turmeric powder because they look quite similar!
For the broth
About the ingredients
Condensed milk is interchangeable with your preferred sweetener if you don’t have access to any or simply prefer not to use it.
You can also substitute the cream for coconut milk and even the low fat version, but keep in mind that the creaminess of the soup will change.
What to serve it with
About the bread and noodles
We like to have our curries with thicker rice noodles. However, there are thinner varieties if that’s what you like.
The Vietnamese baguettes can be purchased fresh from Vietnamese bakeries. If there aren’t any available to you, just replace it with any of your favorite breads.
How to make this recipe
Pour the oil into a large pan or wok and heat it up on medium heat. Turn the heat to low and add the curry powder in to stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
Add the lemongrass in and stir for 1 minute.
Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water on high heat and transfer the cooked lemongrass in when cooked.
Using the same pan or wok, add the sweet potato, taro and 1 tsp salt in on high heat. Toss for 2 minutes or until semi-coated with the remaining curry powder.
Pour the cooked vegetables into the pot and add the curry leaves in as well. Add the carrots in as they take a while to soften.
Like you did with the taro and sweet potatoes, cook the eggplants for 2 minutes in the pan with 1 tsp salt. Use the eggplants to wipe up all the leftover curry powder before transferring the contents into the pot.
Add the tofu puffs, mushrooms and beans in and season the soup with the vegetable stock powder and remaining salt. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
When soft, bring it to a boil add the condensed milk in.
Pour the coconut cream in and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Serve immediately as is with Vietnamese baguettes, rice noodles or both!
Recipe FAQs
We get ours fresh from the Asian supermarket. They sell them whole or halved and wrapped in plastic wrap. If that’s hard to find then they’re also sold frozen in the freezer section of Asian grocery stores.
Because there’s coconut cream in it, it has to be refrigerated once cooled. Leave it sealed in the fridge and it will be good for up to 3 days.
Tips for the best results
- Use a vegetable stock. Much like how we add or replace water in noodle soups with chicken and pork stock for more flavor, a vegetable version will do the same with this Cà Ri Chay.
- Include more taro. The creamy nuttiness of the root vegetable thickens the soup and adds a ton of rich flavor.
- Fry the vegetables. This is a technique we use in our Bò Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew) and Seafood Tofu (玉孑豆府) to seal in the moisture and prevent it from getting soggy too quickly.
Mum’s best vegetarian dishes!
- Bún Chay (Vietnamese Noodle Salad) – Marinated tofu in aromatics are fried until fragrant then served with noodles and fresh salad.
- Bún Bò Huế Chay (Spicy Noodle Soup) – Get a delicious spicy lemongrass kick with this family favorite.
- Phở Chay – The most recognized Vietnamese noodle soup is meatless but retains all the flavor.
- Lemongrass Chili Tofu (Đậu Hũ Chiên Sả Ớt) – This is a quick and easy side dish that will take your rice to a whole new level.
- Braised Bean Curd with Mushrooms – Dive into a comforting claypot of tofu and mushrooms simmered until tender!
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Cà Ri Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Curry)
Ingredients
Fresh Ingredients
- 6 stalks lemongrass (cut into 10 cm/4" segments and lightly smashed)
- 150 g / 0.33 lb green beans (halved)
- 200 g / 0.44 lb eggplant (peeled and cut into 5 cm/2" chunks)
- 200 g / 0.44 lb orange sweet potato (peeled and cut into 5 cm/2" chunks)
- 200 g / 0.44 lb purple sweet potato (peeled and cut into 5 cm/2" chunks)
- 200 g / 0.44 lb taro (peeled and cut into 5 cm/2" chunks)
- 400 g / 0.88 lb oyster mushroom
- 3 g / 0.007 lb curry leaves (we get it from the Asian supermarket)
- 135 g / 0.3 lb fried tofu puffs (we get it from the Asian supermarket)
Stir Fry Ingredients
- 100 g / 0.22 lb curry powder (or to preference)
- 6 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 6 tbsp oil
For The Broth
- 200 g / 0.44 lb condensed milk (or to taste)
- 500 mL / 2.11 US cup coconut cream (or to preference)
- 2 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 2.5 L / 10.6 US cup water
What To Serve It With
- Vietnamese baguette
- thick rice noodle (bún)
Instructions
- Pour the oil into a large pan or wok and heat it up on medium heat. Turn the heat to low and add the curry powder in to stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add the lemongrass in and stir for 1 minute.
- Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water on high heat and transfer the cooked lemongrass in when cooked.
- Using the same pan or wok, add the sweet potato, taro and 1 tsp salt in on high heat. Toss for 2 minutes or until semi-coated with the remaining curry powder.
- Pour the cooked vegetables into the pot and add the curry leaves in as well. Add the carrots in as they take a while to soften.
- Like you did with the taro and sweet potatoes, cook the eggplants for 2 minutes in the pan with 1 tsp salt.Use the eggplants to wipe up all the leftover curry powder before transferring the contents into the pot.
- Add the tofu puffs, mushrooms and beans in and season the soup with the vegetable stock powder and remaining salt. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
- When soft, bring it to a boil add the condensed milk in.
- Pour the coconut cream in and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Serve immediately as is with Vietnamese baguettes, rice noodles or both!
Notes
- Use a vegetable stock. Much like how we add or replace water in noodle soups with chicken and pork stock for more flavor, a vegetable version will do the same with this Cà Ri Chay.
- Include more taro. The creamy nuttiness of the root vegetable thickens the soup and adds a ton of rich flavor.
- Fry the vegetables. This is a technique we use to seal in the moisture and prevent it from getting soggy too quickly.
- We use two types of sweet potato (the purple and orange type), but you can choose whichever you like or just stick to one. Regular potato is also a great choice to add in.
- All of the fresh ingredients can be substituted with your favorite ones, except for the lemongrass and curry leaves which provide the curry its base flavor.
- We get our curry powder from the Asian supermarket. Some are sold in jars while some in plastic packets. Be careful not to get it confused with turmeric powder because they look quite similar!
- Condensed milk is interchangeable with your preferred sweetener if you don't have access to any or simply prefer not to use it.
- You can also substitute the cream for coconut milk and even the low fat version, but keep in mind that the creaminess of the curry will change.
- We like to have our curries with thicker rice noodles. However, there are thinner varieties if that's what you like.
- The Vietnamese baguettes can be purchased fresh from Vietnamese bakeries. If there aren't any available to you, just replace it with any of your favorite breads.
What a rich and delicious curry this looks like. I can’t wait to give it a try!
Thanks, Dannii! I hope you get to enjoy it soon!
This curry truly does sound so creamy and delicious and packed full of flavour!
Thanks, Bintu! It certainly is a family favorite!
We had so many great meals when we visited Vietnam in 2018, I have been trying to find recipes similar to what we had out there, this is perfect. The only ingredient I can’t find is Taro? What can I use instead?
That’s so awesome that you got to try all these different dishes in Vietnam! If you can’t find taro, you can use sweet potato instead. There are a few varieties of sweet potato and I find the type that has a light purple flesh to be the closest one in terms of texture and flavor.
Dang, wish I hadn’t seen this first thing in the morning because now I’m HUNGRY! Loving all the beautiful colors, flavors, and veggies!
Haha, I hope you get to try this recipe out soon – and when you’re hungry too!
This is definitely a rich dish that’s so flavorful. Can’t wait to try! Yummy.
Thanks, Chichi! Enjoy!
Hi Jeannette, can I freeze curry if not finished? How long can I freeze it for?
Hi, Thao! You sure can freeze it. I haven’t personally tested it, but I’d say 2 weeks will still be good. You might want to try it after a week to see how it still tastes frozen and extend it to 2 weeks if it’s okay!