Falafel curry, are you mad? We hear you, but don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! GoodLife’s lemon, cumin and coriander falafel go perfectly with our vegan korma sauce. It’s a lot like an Indian kofta curry. The falafel make for the perfect meat-free alternative to the traditional Indian meatballs.
When GoodLife reached out to us to ask if we wanted to create a recipe using their falafel, we knew it had to have a Vegan Punks twist on it. Don’t get me wrong, we love pitta bread stuffed with hummus, falafel and all the trimmings as much as the next person. But we wanted to get creative.
When we got our hands on the box and saw the words “lemon, cumin and coriander” on the front, our minds went to the same place. It’s got to be curry, hasn’t it? Though, if you’ve been visiting our site or hanging out with us on Instagram for some time, you may wonder when our minds don’t go there!
We’ve been thinking about creating a vegan korma for some time now. So, when it came to creating our falafel curry, we figured there was no better time. Falafel almost always comes with hummus, which is a pretty creamy condiment. We figured that a rich, creamy vegan korma sauce would be the perfect twist on things.
What’s in it?
This falafel curry is pretty simple, by design. We love those easy dinners that, beyond the chopping and prep at the beginning, take little effort. We thought this recipe would lend itself really well to that, with the falafel being ready to cook. That’s why we decided to go for a mix of spices, rather than having to prepare a paste.
The base of the curry is:
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger
- 2.5 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- A little pinch of cinnamon powder
- A pinch of chilli powder
To get that creamy sauce you expect from a korma, we went with coconut milk. But to build on that even more, we stir in some yoghurt at the end. The sauce features:
- 400ml coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp ground almonds
- ½ cup vegan yoghurt
You know we love to pack our recipes with healthy ingredients. We were pleasantly surprised when we read the GoodLife falafel box. Reading the ingredients was like reading the beginning of a recipe. Nothing unusual, no stabilisers, thickeners, gelling agents etc. They’re completely wholefoods – basically chickpeas, onion, herbs and spices. All good stuff!
We used the whole box of 14 falafels for 4 people. We just had to fight over who got the extra two!
To add even more goodness to our falafel curry, we used lots of veg:
- 2 red peppers
- 200g cauliflower
- 150g spinach
A couple of tablespoons of fresh, chopped coriander stirred in at the end finished it off perfectly.
How to make falafel curry
First things first, get the falafel in the oven. The instructions on GoodLife’s packaging were perfect. Getting that brown on the outside of the falafel not only makes them look the part, but it adds to the texture. It doesn’t matter if they’re ready before the curry is – they’ll heat through in the sauce anyway.
As with all good curries, it all starts with onion:
- Add a splash of oil to a large pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Chuck the onion in and gently fry for a good 5 minutes until soft.
- Next up is the garlic and ginger – fry them with the onion for another minute.
- Now it’s time to add all the spices. Stir them through and continue to fry for a couple of minutes – the spices should become fragrant.
- Pour in the coconut milk and stock, then give it a good stir. Bring the sauce up to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer and leave it for 5 minutes for the flavours to really start to develop.
- Give it a little try and season it to taste. We chose to keep the falafel curry pretty mild, as that’s how Korma’s are traditionally made. You can add more or less spices to your taste though!
Keep the veg crunchy...
- Add the peppers, cauliflower and falafel. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes – this should be enough time to heat the veg through but keep a nice crunchy texture. It gives time for the falafel to absorb some of the delicious vegan korma sauce flavours too!
- Stir in the ground almonds. They’ll help thicken it slightly and will add to the flavour.
- The spinach can be added and wilted in now – do it handful by handful if your pan is pretty full! The spinach should be in just long enough to wilt down. That way it keeps all of its goodness!
- Take off the heat, stir through the yoghurt and coriander, and serve!
What to serve with this dish
Obviously we’re not talking about any old falafel dish here! Our Indian twist of making a falafel curry and serving it with a vegan korma sauce calls for some different sides. Here’s what we went for:
Super fluffy vegan naan bread. Rather than pitta bread, we of course had to have naan! Perfect for mopping up all that delicious sauce.
Easy, pilau rice. The ultimate takeaway rice dish – turns out it’s super easy to make at home.
Brinjal (aubergine) bhaji. Our absolute favourite Indian side dish. We order one of these every single time we get a takeaway, so we created our own recipe!
Inspired to try even more Indian style recipes? Try some of these best ever vegan Indian dishes that anyone can make!
FAQs
Of course! We regularly use up any vegetables that we have in curries. It’s one of the reasons we love them so much – they’re versatile. We’ll put anything from broccoli and sweet potato, to Brussels sprouts and aubergine in a curry. Get creative and make our falafel curry your own!
It can – you can keep it in the freezer up to around 3 months. Just make sure it’s thoroughly defrosted before reheating, then make sure it’s piping hot!
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Falafel Curry
Ingredients
- 1 onion - diced
- 280 g falafel
- 3 cloves garlic - crushed
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger - chopped finely
- 2.5 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- A little pinch of cinnamon powder
- A pinch of chilli powder
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 1 cup vegetable stock
- 3 tbsp ground almonds
- ½ cup vegan yoghurt
- 2 red peppers - chopped into chunks
- 200 g cauliflower - chopped into chunks
- 150 g spinach
Instructions
- Bake the falafel according to the packet instructions. Goodlife falafel should be baked on a tray for 15 minutes on 200oC /Fan 180oC /Gas 6.280 g falafel
- Put a splash of oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the chopped onion and gently sauté for 5 minutes until translucent.1 onion
- Pop in the ginger and garlic and fry for one minute.
- Stir through the spices and continue to fry for a couple of minutes – but don't let them burn!
- Pour in the coconut milk and stock and stir. Bring the sauce up to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes for the flavours to infuse.
- Have a taste and season to your liking. We chose to keep the falafel curry pretty mild, as that’s how Korma’s are traditionally made. You can add more or less spices to your taste though!
- Now it's time to put the peppers, cauliflower and falafel into the pan. Simmer for 5 minutes – long enough to heat the veg and leave it lovely and crunchy.280 g falafel
- Stir in the ground almonds. This will thicken the sauce a little and add a slight nutty flavour.
- Wilt in the spinach, handful by handful. It should be in long enough to wilt down, that way it keeps all of its goodness!
- Remove from the heat, stir in the yoghurt and garnish with fresh coriander. Serve and enjoy with naan bread, raita and chutney.
Notes
- You can cook the veg for a bit longer if it's your preference. Just be careful not to cook off too much of the sauce! If that does happen, you can add more yoghurt or a couple of tablespoons of water.
Nadine
My daughter made me the Falafel Curry for New Year's Eve; It was delicious!
Served it with peshwari nans , mango chutney and Pineapple, coconut and zesty lime chutney (Baxters) . It was brilliant, just the right consistency!
Thank you!
Nadine
Rodborough, Stroud
Jess Saunders
We're so glad to read that you loved this Falafel Curry Nadine! It sounds like your daughter made a delicious New Year's Eve feast. It's lovely to see another Stroudie commenting on our blog, we're based near Rodborough too! Thanks so much for your comment, and Happy New Year 💚 Jess x