Laksa is the Singaporean rice-noodle dish made with a spicy coconut-milk gravy in its best-known curry version.
Curry laksa uses noodles in a rich broth flavored with coconut milk, chili, shrimp paste, and aromatic spices. Common additions include tofu puffs, fish cake, shrimp, chicken, and bean sprouts. The precise recipe varies considerably across Singapore and the wider Malay world.
Singapore has several important laksa traditions. Katong laksa is a well-known local style in which the noodles are cut into shorter pieces, while asam laksa uses a sour, tamarind-based fish broth and does not rely on coconut milk in the same way.
Because laksa is a family of dishes rather than one fixed recipe, the word does not always mean coconut gravy. The question’s description points specifically to curry laksa. Laksa reflects the interaction of Malay, Peranakan, Chinese, and other regional culinary traditions.