Q: My husband is allergic to dairy and coconut. We both love spicy curry-like foods, but I miss the extra zing a dollop of yogurt or coconut milk adds to curries. While I could certainly just add those to my own dishes, I want my husband to be able to experience that extra flavor as well.
Is there a good substitution for yogurt or coconut milk in this context?
Sent by Tiffany
Editor: Tiffany, there are quite a few non-dairy yogurt and sour cream options now available. Most are made from soy or rice. One I particularly like is Tofutti's version of sour cream. (Their cream cheese alternative is also very good.) Look for these in the dairy case of your grocery, or at a health food store.
Readers, any particular brands you like, or other suggestions for Tiffany?
Related: Can You Suggest Good Recipes For Non-Dairy Ice Cream?
(Images: Vitacost; Gippsland Dairy)
How to Make Easy 3-Ingredient Energy Bars at Home
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Straw Mat from The ...
10 No-Fail Decor Tricks & Tips for Small Spaces
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Homemade cashew cream might work if he can have cashews. You can even culture cashew cream into yogurt, naturally without adding dairy yogurt culture.
http://206.251.72.146/sections/recipes/cashew-yogurt.html
Other seed/nut options are sesame cream, almond cream, sunflower seed cream, etc. As a plus you can use raw nuts, soak them overnight before pureeing into "cream", and add lots of nutrition to your dishes.
How about trying MimicCreme?
I second the editor's note for Tofutti sour cream! It's good stuff. I also keep a quart container of plain soy yogurt (I like WholeSoy & Co), which I use frequently as a condiment with all kinds of dishes. As for Thai curry bases, I'd use a blend of soft silken tofu (like Mori Nu) and soy yogurt, to lend that thick, creamy texture. Best of luck finding something that works for you both!
I totally get the frustration. Most "plain" soy yogurts are sweetened pretty aggressively, so they really don't do the trick. Wildwood makes an unsweetened soy yogurt that is good, but it is not as tart as good plain dairy yogurt.
When I need something thick and tart and creamy, but that accommodates my allergy to the protein in milk, my favorite is whipped ripe avocado with a good shot of lemon or lime juice (or, in a pinch, some good vinegar). Avocado is a neutral enough flavor that I mostly perceive it as being fatty and rich, when I use it as a sour-cream analogue like this.
I sometimes whip an unsweetened nut butter with lemon juice. Almond butter is the most frequent, but I also sometimes use tahini, or pecan butter.
Silken tofu blended with lemon juice or rice vinegar to make it tart is another thing I sometimes use.
I wish I could learn to like Tofutti sour cream, but the texture has never convinced me. There's a waxy mouth-feel that lingers, and I find it distracting.
I second the cashew cream idea! I use this recipe: http://www.talronnen.com/recipes/cashew-cream/. I'm not vegan, it's just delicious.
Can he have goat's milk?
I'll third the Cashews! I've never tried the recipes above, but I did recently try this curried chicken recipe, and it was great, without the yogurt (which I forgot to buy at the store) thanks entirely to the cashews.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Curry-with-Cashews-231358
I'm not a fan of faux products, though I understand why people are. I often leave out all or most of the coconut milk in curries to make them lighter. I miss the creamy texture too. Since I usually make my curries with some type of bean, I'll puree a portion of the broth with say, the chickpeas and some of the veg I'm using, and then stir it back into the curry.