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Curry Up!
episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • cooking • 25m
G
episode • The Cook Up with Adam Liaw • cooking • 25m
G
From the steamy, spice-laden kitchens of the subcontinent to the fragrant street stalls of Southeast Asia, have won global hearts for their soothing comfort and bold flavours. (We're not getting into the controversy around the right now).
Whatever the origins of the term, curry has come to mean a bowl of flavour that always hits the spot. And so, we’re highlighting 52 of the best ever curry recipes — so you have one for every week of the year — ensuring each dish tells a story of heritage, technique, and regional flair.
Whether you’re craving a classic butter chicken or an adventurous jungle curry, these recipes promise to excite taste buds and celebrate the world’s remarkable diversity.
Chicken curry
This Malaysian Nyonya classic has an aromatic spice base finished with tamarind for a sweet and sour balance. Legend claims the name came from a British captain who demanded to know what he was eating, with the cook simply replying "Captain's curry!" Pairs beautifully with roti or steamed rice.
Credit: China Squirrel
Rich, nutty, and subtly spiced, this Sudanese favourite uses peanut butter in place of cream or yoghurt for a velvety sauce. Serve with flatbread for a comforting weeknight meal.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Generous amounts of turmeric give this Afghan comfort food staple its bright colour, and a liberal amount of yoghurt brings roundness with a hint of tang. This is a mild dish is perfect for those who prefer their curry without heat.
Afghan braised chicken with yoghurt and turmeric (lawang) is an example of using yoghurt instead of cream to curb saturated fat intake. Credit: China Squirrel
This bold tomato-based curry comes from a South Indian area renowned for dishes that pack a flavour punch. A homemade curry powder from whole spices maximises the vibrancy of the dish, and a sprig of fresh curry leaves bring their distinctive herbal-citrus notes.
A Mughlai delicacy, where the cuisine is influenced by the Turkic cuisine of Central Asia, this creamy white curry is fragrant with poppy seeds, cashews, and rosewater — an elegant chicken curry for special occasions.
Chicken rezala. Credit: Street Food Nomad: Kolkata
This vibrant "red-cooked chicken" is Malaysian comfort food at its finest: wok-fried chicken cooked until tender in a sticky, tangy-sweet tomato sauce.
Ayam masak merah (Chicken in sweet and spicy tomato sauce) Credit: Georgia Gold
An Australian twist on a North Indian staple, this creamy chicken curry swaps peanuts for macadamias. Citrus-laced lemon myrtle flatbread are perfect for mopping up the silky sauce and add to the distinctly local flair of the dish.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
A fragrant and vibrant Thai favourite. Creamy coconut milk, green chillies, and aromatic herbs create a luscious sauce perfect for slurping up with delicate rice noodles.
Chicken green curry with rice noodles (khanom jeen gaeng keaw gai) Credit: Brett Stevens
This Malaysian staple celebrates the humble onion's transformative power. Slowly caramelised until sweet and golden, the onions create a rich base for the complex and satisfying blend of aromatics.
Ayam masak bawang (Onion chicken) Credit: Georgia Gold
Most Indian families has their treasured butter chicken recipe. This version from Aussie spelling bee champ Aditya Paul uses a homemade garam masala for extra flavour and depth.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
For a Japanese twist on curry night, try this crispy breaded chicken served over chewy udon noodles and finished with a dousing of sweet and savoury curry sauce.
Credit: Brett Stevens
A South African classic, Cape Malay is an aromatic, slightly sweet and smoky local favourite that reflects the vibrant cultural fusion cuisine of Cape Town. Best scooped up with warm, flaky roti.
Brightened by curry leaves and coconut, this curry tastes of a beachy island vibe. Its light sauce features curry leaves and pandan to create an aromatic profile distinct to Maldivian cuisine.
Maldivian chicken curry. Credit: Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield
Meat curries
This iconic Indonesian specialty transforms tougher cuts of beef into melt-in-your-mouth morsels through hours of slow cooking. The spiced coconut milk gradually reduces to a concentrated paste, coating the beef with intense flavour.
Beef rendang curry Credit: The Good Cooks
This North Indian classic is all about deep, caramelised flavours. A slow-cooked sensation, the flavours of lamb bhuna intnesify as the sauce reduces until thick and glossy.
Credit: Parveen's Indian Kitchen
Beloved in Thailand, massaman fuses Middle Eastern influences with fragrant local spices. The combination of tender beef, potatoes, and a gentle coconut base creates a mild yet richly layered curry.
Credit: Alana Dimou
Traditionally fiery with vinegar and chillies, pork vindaloo is a Goan favourite. The slow-braise tenderises the meat while preserving bold tang.
A comforting Japanese dish where thick and chewy udon noodles are served in a flavourful and Japanese curry broth with pork and vegetables. A warming and satisfying meal, perfect for cooler evenings — as experienced in Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan credited for the dish.
Credit: Sharyn Cairns
Mild yet indulgent, lamb korma is enriched with a creamy, nutty gravy perfumed with cardamom and saffron. The silky sauce gently perfumes the tender meat — and a knob of butter is mixture through right at the end for a luxurious finish.
Credit: Andrew Dorn
Goat marrow bones are added to goat meat to enrichen the flavour of this memorable curry, which is sweetened with dried figs and jaggery sugar and fragranced with a medley of spices. Slow cooking ensures succulent meat and a balanced sauce.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
This iconic curry showcases the Burmese influence on northern Thai cuisine with its warming blend of ginger, tamarind and turmeric complementing the pork belly protein. Rather than a coconut milk base, gaeng hang lay has flavourful and slightly tangy gravy. Serve with steamed or glutinous rice for an authentic Northern Thai experience.
This treasured family recipe reflects the distinct culinary heritage of Myanmar's Rohingya community. Slow-cooked with warming spices until the beef is tender, it’s pure comfort food.
Credit: Refugee Council of Australia
A nostalgic and budget-friendly option, bully beef transforms canned corned beef into a flavourful curry, often served with simple steamed greens for a nourishing and comforting meal.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Spicy and herbaceous, jungle curry is one of the few Thai curries that omits coconut milk, allowing the fiery chillies and fresh aromatics to shine.
Credit: Alana Dimou
An iconic Kashmiri dish, rogan josh spotlights red chillies and fragrant spices, filling the kitchen with an enchanting aroma as it cooks. The end result is crowd-pleasing vibrant lamb curry that's layered in flavour.
Rogan josh Credit: Benito Martin
Seafood curry
Tangy tamarind (assam), lemongrass, and okra define this Peranakan curry, which is known for its balance of a savoury, sour and spicy gravy with the sweetness of fresh fish.
Credit: Adam Liaw
Hailing from Kerala in southern India, meen moilee features a mild coconut gravy infused with curry leaves and mustard seeds. Barramundi, which is poached in the curry, adds a buttery texture that complements the dish’s delicate fragrance.
Barramundi meen moilee Credit: Ella Rubeli / Jimmy Shu's Taste of the Territory
Three elements come together to make this quick curry a success — turmeric-seasoned fish, a flavour-packed curry base featuring mustard seeds, fennel seeds, curry leaves and ginger, and an olive oil tadka (spiced-infused oil).
Grilled swordfish curry Credit: Kitti Gould
Cambodia’s beloved breakfast dish, num banh chok, features a light fish curry poured over thin rice noodles. Topped with fresh herbs and crunchy vegetables, it’s an invigorating way to start the day – or enjoy anytime, really.
Fish curry vermicelli noodle soup (Num Banh Chok) Credit: Asia Unplated with Diana Chan
Along with coconut cream, fenugreek seeks and lemongrass, a DIY curry powder is at the heart of this bold curry. Wondering how to make curry powder? You'll find it in this recipe. And, you’ll have leftover curry powder on hand for any recipe that calls for a Sri Lankan or Ceylon curry powder.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
You’ll be rewarded for your efforts in making a Thai green curry paste from scratch with a luxurious, creamy and vibrant lobster curry.
Credit: Adam Liaw
This southern Thai specialty features an hot and sour broth made with tamarind, papaya and chillies. The bright acidity works a treat with the natural sweetness of tiger prawns.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Short on time, big on flavour — this curry makes the most of pantry staples like ground coriander, cumin and mustard seeds, and is finished with a vibrant Sri Lankan coconut relish (pol sambol) for extra texture and flavour.
Quick barramundi curry with pol sambol Credit: Kitti Gould
Experience island flavours with succulent crab is simmered in coconut milk, turmeric, and chillies. Reflecting Fiji’s Indo-Pacific heritage, this curry bursts with colour and spice, and perfect for impressing guests.
Fiji crab curry (kerada tarkari). Credit: Murdoch Books / Rob Palmer
A mellow cousin to Thai red or green curries, this delicately fragrant yellow curry showcases the tender pieces of blue swimmer crab. Vermicelli noodles are perfect for soaking up all the flavours as well as adding texture.
Thai yellow crab curry with vermicelli noodles Credit: Asia Unplated with Diana Chan
Mustard oil and nigella seeds give this hearty curry its distinctive Bengali punch. In a modern twist, the seafood medley including mussels and prawns is used in addition to fish — all draped in fresh coriander to serve.
Credit: Andrew Dorn
This sunny Bengali curry features prawns gently poached in coconut milk infused with turmeric. Unlike many Indian curries, this version uses minimal spices to let the natural sweetness of prawns and coconut shine.
Prawn and coconut curry Credit: Bloomsbury / Mike Cooper
Switch up your go-to prawn recipe with this unique Thai recipe, where whole prawns are cooked in a fragrant broth, removed, mashed and then added back and seasoned with fish sauce, lime juice and sugar. The homemade curry paste can be made up to a week ahead of time.
Southern thai coconut curry of mashed prawns (aaeng gait gung) Credit: Armelle Habib
This rich curry delivers on flavour, with a spiced coconut gravy reduced until it's thick and coats each prawn. If you prefer a thinner curry, just add extra water and simmer for 10 minutes before serving.
Sri Lankan prawn curry Credit: Adam Liaw
Vegetarian curries
A North Indian household staple, rajma masala melds tender kidney beans with onions, tomatoes, and warming spices. This version omits ghee and cream to make it vegan-friendly.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Mulligatawny is a nourishing spiced lentil and vegetable soup — this recipes elevates it with a tadka, a flavour explosion of aromatic-infused sizzling coconut oil, which is poured over the soup just before serving.
Tadka mulligatawny Credit: Kitti Gould
This Kashmiri delicacy bathes golden-fried paneer in a turmeric-tinted, cardamom-scented gravy. The subtle aromatics reflect the region’s distinctive regional cooking style.
Credit: Murdoch Books / Matt Russell
A Punjabi breakfast and street food favourite, chole bhature pairs a spiced chickpea curry with pillowy fried discs of wholemeal-semolina bread. The contrast of the robust curry against crisp, golden bhature creates a satisfying meat-free meal; the curry, though, can be enjoyed with rice or other flatbreads too.
Credit: Chris Tran
Simple yet comforting, this curry’s vibrant spices highlight the natural sweetness of potatoes and carrots. Serve with soft flatbread for a meal that’s both budget-friendly and nourishing.
Curried potato and carrot with flatbread. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey
A homemade miso red curry paste, using miso paste blended with fresh aromatics, is the key to this flavourful dish. Cauliflower is roasted until charred, then served with blistered cherry tomatoes and mushrooms and bathed in the curry sauce.
Red curry cauliflower Credit: Adam Liaw
Short on ingredients but big on flavour, this dish hails from Gujurat, a province in western India known for its vegetarian food. Pounding the paste ingredients for this curry — ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and chillies — boosts the aroma.
Eggs are popular main character ingredients in curries throughout South and Southeast Asia — in this indulgent version, they’re added to a rich and fragrant coconut curry, and served with buttery croissants to soaks up the sauce.
Black mustard seeds, spluttered in hot oil until they pop, release a nutty aroma that transforms the tomato-based sauce. The addition of eggplant cubes fried in mustard oil gives this curry a multidimensional texture and tang.
Tomato and eggplant curry with black mustard. Credit: Freshly Picked with Simon Toohey
Packed with nutrient-rich greens, this Thai-inspired curry doesn’t skimp on flavour. A touch of coconut cream balances the leafy taste, creating a wholesome yet indulgent meal.
Superfood green curry. Credit: Freshly Picked wth Simon Toohey
This hearty curry combines earthy lentils, protein-packed tofu with sweet pumpkin for a satisfying, warming and gentle meal. The leftovers (if there are any!) make for a great lunchbox option.
Credit: Jiwon Kim
Celebrate Australian bush flavours with native herbs and spices in a nourishing chickpea and vegetable curry.
Native bush curry. Credit: Kitti Gould
