This Vegan Thai Massaman Curry is super fragrant, full of flavour and packed with veggies! It makes the perfect easy and nutritious dinner.

Why you'll love this Vegan Thai Massaman Curry:
- it's full of flavour
- it's subtly spiced and fragrant
- it's healthy and nutritious
- it's warming and comforting
- it's packed with tender eggplant (aubergine) and fluffy potatoes
- it's made in one pot
- it's easy to make
- it's gluten-free and refined sugar free!
What is Massaman curry?
Massaman curry is a mild, fragrant Thai curry. It contains an unusual combination of spices like cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, bay leaves and nutmeg, which are not normally used in Thai curries. These spices are combined with more common spices and herbs like chilli, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and coriander (cilantro).
How to make Massaman curry paste
Making your own curry paste may seem like a lot of trouble, but it's surprisingly easy to make, and has so much more flavour than anything you'll find in a jar!
All you need to do is throw some ingredients into a food processor and whizz until smooth:
- coriander (cilantro)
- onion
- garlic
- ginger
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
- cloves
- cumin
- chilli.
Substitutions you can make to this recipe
The rest of the curry is seriously easy to make, all you need to do is dump the ingredients into a pot and leave it to cook!
Here are some substitutions you can make to this recipe:
- you can add any vegetables you like - a good chance to clear out the fridge!
- the potatoes can be substituted with sweet potatoes or butternut squash
- if you can't get hold of lemongrass, you can use lemon peel as it has a similar aroma
- the peas can be substituted with chickpeas or tofu.
How long does this Vegan Thai Massaman Curry keep for?
Leftovers keep well covered in the fridge for up to a couple of days - reheat in a pan on the hob (stove), adding some extra water if necessary.
For more vegan curries:
- Chickpea Korma Curry
- Chickpea Sweet Potato Peanut Curry
- Cabbage Potato Curry
- Tofu Katsu Curry
- Eggplant Chickpea Peanut Curry
- Chickpea Coconut Mango Curry
- Tofu Satay Curry
- Thai Green Curry
If you try out this recipe or anything else from my blog, I’d really love to hear any feedback! Please give it a rating, leave a comment, or tag a photo @rhiansrecipes #rhiansrecipes on Instagram! Thank you.
Vegan Thai Massaman Curry (GF)
Ingredients
For the curry paste:
- 30 g (1 oz) fresh coriander (cilantro) (stalks included)
- 1Â (1) onion
- 2Â (2) garlic cloves
- 1 cm (½ inch ) ginger , peeled
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch ground nutmeg
- Pinch ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon ) ground cumin
- Pinch cayenne chilli pepper to taste
For the curry:
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon ) coconut oil (or sub vegetable or rapeseed oil)
- 1 (1) stick of lemongrass , roughly chopped *
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 cardamom pods
- 400 g (14 oz) tin of coconut milk
- 1 (1) vegetable stock cube (ensure gluten-free if necessary)
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon ) agave syrup (or sub any other sweetener)
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon ) tamari (or soy sauce if not gluten-free)
- Salt + pepper to taste
- 1 eggplant (aubergine) , diced
- 1 kg (35 oz) potatoes , peeled and diced
- 250 g (1 â…” cup) frozen green peas
To serve:
- Roasted peanuts
- Cooked brown or white rice
Instructions
For the curry paste:
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and blitz until smooth - add a splash of water if it’s having trouble mixing up
For the curry:
- Heat up the oil in a large pan
- Add the curry paste, lemongrass, bay leaves and cardamom and fry for a few minutes until fragrant
- Add the coconut milk, stock cube, agave syrup, tamari, salt + pepper, eggplant, potatoes and green peas with enough water to roughly cover
- Bring to the boil and simmer for around 15 minutes until the potatoes are soft enough to gently pierce with a fork
- Discard lemongrass, bay leaves and cardamom before serving
- Serve sprinkled with roasted peanuts alongside cooked rice, if desired
- Leftovers keep well covered in the fridge for up to a couple of days - reheat in a pan on the hob (stove), adding some extra water if necessary
Notes
Disclosure: This posts contains affiliate links to Amazon. If you purchase any of these products, a small percentage will come to me with no extra cost to you! This income will go towards the running of this blog – thank you.
Sandra summers
Really good, yummy 😋
Rhian Williams
Thank you so much!