How to Thicken Curry: 7 Tips for a Creamy Curry Sauce

Curry is a general term for any saucy dish using spices such as turmeric, coriander, cumin, and fenugreek. Many countries, including the United States, use curry as a blanket term for any saucy South Asian dish, but there are dozens of types of curries, and not every sauce-forward dish in Indian, Japanese, Thai, and other South Asian cuisines is a curry. Additionally, many non-specific seasoning blends carry a label of “curry powder.” However, different styles of Indian curries, including tikka masala, korma, and vindaloo, use different spice blends and curry sauce bases. Thai curry is usually green, red, or yellow.

A curry is traditionally a thick sauce, but there are several reasons a curry might become watery.

• Excess moisture from frozen ingredients: It’s acceptable to use frozen ingredients when you’re making any type of curry recipe, but adding them to the dish still frozen means they will defrost during the cooking process. This leeches excess liquid into the sauce and causes a runny curry.
• Ingredient substitutions: If a Thai curry recipe calls for coconut cream or full-fat coconut milk, make sure to use that specific type to make a curry sauce thicker. Light coconut milk or coconut water will be too watery and throw off the consistency of the curry.
• Too low of a cooking temperature: A curry must simmer to cook off any excess liquid and reach the desired thickness. If you cook the sauce on very low heat, the liquid will never have the chance to evaporate.
• Too short of a cooking time: Curry sauce thickens as it simmers, so you must be patient and let it achieve your preferred thickness. Avoid turning off the heat as soon as the sauce comes to a boil, which will result in a thin curry sauce.

Here are seven methods for thickening curry at different stages in the cooking process:

1. 1. Add dairy. Many curry sauces have a creamy texture, so try adding more dairy—like Greek yogurt, heavy cream, or a thick non-dairy ingredient like coconut cream—to thicken a watery curry sauce.
2. 2. Add ground nuts. Try grinding nuts like cashews or almonds to add to a curry sauce if the sauce looks a little runny. The nuts will absorb some of the extra liquid and help thicken the sauce during the remaining cooking time.
3. 3. Add lentils. A common ingredient in vegetarian curry, lentils are a natural thickening agent because they absorb liquid as they cook. You can add lentils about halfway through the cooking process, then reassess the thickness of the curry sauce after you fully cook the lentils.
4. 4. Add peanut butter. A common flavor in Thai and Japanese cuisines, peanut butter can complement the taste of certain curries and will make the sauce thicker. Add the peanut butter toward the end of the cooking process.
5. 5. Add a tomato product. Many Indian-style curries already have a tomato sauce base, so try adding more tomato paste or more tomato purée to create a denser sauce. You might need to adjust the other seasonings or veggies to account for the extra tomato.
6. 6. Start with a roux. Not many curry recipes start with a roux, but it can be a good way to ensure a thick curry. Use wheat flour, rice flour, or coconut flour plus a fat (like ghee, olive oil, or coconut oil) in equal amounts. Cook both ingredients for a few minutes to cook out the raw flour taste, then add your curry ingredients. Once the whole curry dish comes to a boil, the sauce will thicken.
7. 7. Use a slurry. Mix cornstarch, tapioca starch, or arrowroot with cold water or a cup of liquid from the curry sauce to make a slurry. Add this at the end of the cooking process—the sauce should thicken as soon as it returns to a boil.

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