Overview
About Korma paste
Korma is the curry people order when they want something gentle, and that assumption is exactly what makes korma paste worth a page.
Mild refers to chili heat, and chili heat is not what the paste is mostly made of. A typical korma base is onion and garlic cooked down until sweet, ground almonds or cashews for body, and cream, yoghurt or coconut for richness, plus coriander, cardamom and other warm spices. That produces a high fructan and FODMAP grade, a real tree-nut exposure, a moderate dairy-protein grade and one of the worst EoE compatibility grades of any curry base, all in a dish marketed as the safe option on the menu. Jarred pastes add their own problems: they grade only moderate for gluten because wheat flour and non-certified processing are common, and the salt and fat load pushes the DASH grade down.
Sensitivities
How Korma paste scores
Watch for
What trips people up
- High fructan and FODMAP grade. The mildness comes from cooking down more onion and garlic for sweetness, not from using less of them, so the gentlest-tasting curry on the menu can carry the heaviest fructan load
- Tree nuts are structural, not optional. Ground almond or cashew is what gives korma its body, so a korma paste is a nut exposure even when the label does not shout about it. Check every jar if you avoid tree nuts
- Moderate dairy-protein grade with mild lactose, from the yoghurt, cream or milk solids used to soften the paste. This is why korma is one of the harder curries to make genuinely dairy-free, and why its vegan grade is only borderline
- Poor EoE compatibility, because the paste stacks dairy, tree nut and often wheat, three of the standard elimination foods, into one ingredient
- Moderate gluten grade for jarred pastes. Wheat flour is used as a thickener in some brands and shared-line processing is common, so do not assume a curry paste is gluten free without a certified label
- Moderate histamine and tyramine grades. A long-life jar of paste built on nuts and dairy is not the same as spices ground fresh that evening
Diet fit
Where it fits
Swap ideas
More alternatives
FAQ
Common questions about Korma paste
Korma is the mild curry, so why does it still upset my stomach?
Because mild describes the chili, not the ingredient list. Korma paste grades high for fructans and total FODMAPs on the strength of its onion and garlic base, and it carries ground nuts plus dairy for richness. None of those are affected by heat level. If a vindaloo and a korma both bother you, the shared onion and garlic base is the likelier explanation than the spice.
Does korma paste contain nuts?
Almost always. Ground almonds or cashews are what give korma its characteristic thick, creamy body, so nuts are a defining ingredient rather than an optional garnish. Some brands use coconut or a nut blend instead, and a few use both. If you have a tree-nut allergy, korma is the curry base that most needs the label read every single time, including in restaurants.
Is korma paste dairy free or vegan?
Usually not. It grades moderate for dairy protein and mild for lactose because yoghurt, cream or milk powder is standard in the paste itself, which is why its vegan grade sits only at borderline rather than clean. Coconut-based vegan kormas do exist, but they are a deliberate reformulation and need to say so on the jar.
Is korma paste gluten free?
Not reliably. It grades moderate for gluten rather than clean, because wheat flour is used as a thickener or bulking agent in some commercial pastes and shared production lines are common in the category. Nothing in a traditional korma requires wheat, so certified gluten-free jars are easy to find, but the default assumption should be to check.
References
Read the background
Ratings reflect the Triggerbites ingredient database and may vary with portion size and preparation.