Ca Ri Chay (Vegan Vietnamese Curry Recipe)

🤷‍♀️ What is Cà Ri Chay?

While cà ri gà gets all the love for being one of the more famous curries in Vietnamese cuisine, there's gotta be something better for humans and the planet for us to dip some crusty bread into right? 

Ca Ri Chay is a coconut milk curry often made with root vegetables like potatoes, taro, and yams. And sometimes, like in this recipe, it has other veggies like green beans and bok choy. Usually, it gets topped with fried or puffed tofu, but you can also rock it out with some vegan chicken or vegan sausage, if that’s what you are into.

Vietnamese curries differ greatly from Indian curry recipes in that (a lot like Thai curries, actually) their bases generally start from frying curry paste, rather than whole spices. And topping them with lots of fresh herbs is sorta the cherry on top.

🌶️Ingredients for this Ca Ri Chay recipe

Shallots

Nothing in the onion family makes me tear up quite like shallots, but they are the onion of choice in Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia. I am always elbow deep in shallots for making sambal matah and sambal dabu dabu, two of my fave onion-y condiments. Anyway, red onions can be used in place of the shallots in this recipe, and probably no one will know the difference.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass stalks add a fresh, citrusy flavor that's essential for an authentic Vietnamese curry. It’s a common herb in famous Southeast Asian dishes like sambal goreng tempeh, and Thai red curry paste, and I use it in my Filipino turon too. In the US, it’s not common to be able to purchase less than a few stalks of lemongrass at a time, so put the leftover lemongrass to work brewing a hot pot of Bandrek tea, or making a batch of Tom Yum Paste, so you can quickly whip up tom yum fried rice at a moment’s notice.

Curry Powder (Bột cà ri)

Curry powder, a blend of fragrant spices like ground coriander seed, cumin seeds, black pepper and coriander, gives the dish its characteristic warm and earthy flavor. Turmeric, a key ingredient, is known for its anti-inflammatory properties. If you don’t have a store-bought Vietnamese curry powder you’ve fallen in love with just yet, make my Madras curry powder recipe, and never look back.

Cinnamon 

Vietnamese cinnamon is famous worldwide. I always garnish my banh flan with the stuff. I mean, heck, I love the stuff so much, I just about named my blog after it, right? If you don’t have cinnamon powder, you can make the curry with a cinnamon stick, and remove and discard the stick before serving the curry.

Thin Rice Vermicelli (Bún tươi)

My personal comfort food of choice is a big ass steamy bowl of these thin, gluten-free rice noodles in a clear herbal broth with a ton of veggies. And before you ask, YES, I eat them in the bathtub. Don’t judge me, ok? They are fast to cook, super-affordable, and come in handy for making other recipes like bihun goreng and Vietnamese vegan spring rolls. 

Thin rice vermicelli noodles soak up the curry flavors like a champ. You can substitute with glass noodles (the cellophane noodles used to make pad woon sen) or serve the curry over steamed jasmine rice or banana leaf compressed lontong instead.

Curry Leaves (Lá cà ri tươi)

Curry leaves ain’t just for your fave Indian recipes like toor dal tadka, or topping soya chaap sabji, and kathal sabji. Oh no. Dear, NO. You step this recipe up to the upper-echelons of flavor when using these! Of course, you can’t get them everywhere on the planet, so just leave them out, or substitute them with a couple of lime leaves instead if you have to.

Chili Garlic Sauce (Tương ớt tỏi)

I love the heat and szechuan peppercorn flavor of my own chili garlic sauce recipe, but you can use your favey brands instead. Otherwise, if you can’t find chili garlic sauce, Sriracha, sambal oelek or nam prik pao are also awesome in this recipe.

📖 How to make cà ri chay

Whip up this nourishing Vietnamese vegetable and tofu curry like a pro on your first shot by following these step-by-step photos with helpful tips. Or scroll down to the bottom of this page for the easy-to-print recipe card.

Step One

That’s Sha- LOT of Aromatics:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. After about 90 seconds, when the oil is shimmering, sauté the diced shallots for 4 minutes until they become translucent and aromatic.

Step Two

Bruised and Battered:

While the shallots cook, crush the lemongrass sections with the side of a heavy knife or cleaver.

This helps the lemongrass release its oils and flavor while it simmers.

Step Three

Make your Kitchen Smell Amazing:

Add the lemongrass, minced garlic, ginger, curry powder spice blend, cinnamon, and bay leaves. Stir and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat until the spices are fragrant.

✅ Use a metal mixing spoon to keep scraping the build-up from the bottom of the pot, to prevent it from burning.

Step Four

Vegetable Spa Time:

Add the carrots, taro (or potatoes), and sweet potatoes to the pot. Pour in the water, lime juice, tamari, and coconut sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer for 18-20 minutes until the vegetables are tender, but not mushy.

Step Five

Let’s Give Them Something To Bok About:

Once the vegetables in the pot are just fork-tender, but not mushy, add the string beans and optional bok choy, and allow them to steam in the covered pot for another 2-3 minutes.

Step Six

Stir Wars: The Milk Awakens

In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and cornstarch with a fork until smooth.

Once the vegetables are cooked, turn off the heat and stir in the coconut milk mixture. Mix in the tofu puffs.

Step Seven

Send Noods:

If you are serving the curry with rice vermicelli, all you need to do is soak it for a few minutes in a bowl of warm water. There's no need to boil them.

Step Eight

Serve Mix-a-Lot:

Serve the rich curry by ladling it into bowls. Use tongs to add some rehydrated rice vermicelli noodles to each bowl.

Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves, optional fresh curry leaves, and a drizzle of vegan nước chấm if desired. Top with fried shallots, serve with lime wedges, and add fresh baguette slices on the side for dipping.

💡Serving Ideas

With or without a French baguette, Ca Ri Chay is just what my body craves, and it makes a nourishing comfort food meal any time of the year. 

Vietnamese Banh Trang Cuon with Vietnamese peanut sauce, rice dumplings, or crisp Thai spring rolls make awesome accompaniments. If you're in the mood for something more substantial, whip up a fluffy ol' batch of banh bao chay.

Or rock this out with a classic Vietnamese rice paper salad, which, for real, is so insanely good, you might hit yourself over the head with a frying pan, and hearts will start coming outta your ears. Just sayin’.

And look, you are getting credit for eating your veggies with your bowl of ca ri chay, so you 100% deserve a bangin’ Vietnamese dessert to finish off your meal like chè ba màu, kem chuoi, or taro pudding.