Easy Falafel Curry

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This falafel curry is a brilliant way to serve falafel, coated in a creamy, spicy sauce – it makes such a hearty, filling vegetarian curry! Perfect served over rice or with naan bread for dipping.

Falafel curry in a large frying pan.

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Falafel might not be an ingredient you often find in curry, but it works so well! The creamy curry sauce coats the falafel beautifully, like little chickpea dumplings. It’s full of flavour, and easy to make too – read on to find out how!

Falafel curry in a frying pan.

How to serve falafel

Falafel is such a vegan staple – it’s one of those things that will feature as the vegan option in 90% of restaurants these days.

But it’s often served in the same way – just on its own, with some salad and pitta bread, maybe a bit of hummus.

This may be the traditional way to eat falafel, but I always like to do things a bit differently, and I think falafel curry might just be my new favourite way to serve falafel!

Just coat the crispy falafel in a silky smooth curry sauce, and they become soft and moist and extra tasty. It’s a revelation!

Sliced red onions cooking in a frying pan with spices.

How to make falafel curry

The falafel curry starts with a super simple curry sauce. Cook off some sliced onions with garlic, chilli and ginger (the smell in your house will already be amaaaazing by this point).

Then, add a couple of ground spices (nothing fancy, just a couple of things that you can find in any supermarket), some tinned tomatoes, and a can of coconut milk. I also added a big handful of fresh spinach.

That’s your curry sauce done!

Just let it simmer away for a while so the flavours can develop, and it becomes beautifully rich and silky, with a deep orange colour.

Collage showing coconut curry sauce cooking and changing colour over time.

Goodlife falafel

Next up, the falafel!

I used shop-bought falafel to make my falafel curry, which I would definitely recommend, as by the time I’d made the sauce and prepared my rice and naan, I wouldn’t have wanted to stand around making falafel from scratch too. There’s a time and a place for cooking things from scratch, but for me, 2020 isn’t it.

I used this falafel from Goodlife, which is without a doubt my favourite shop-bought falafel. I sometimes find falafel a little dry, which this one isn’t at all (especially when you dunk it in curry sauce!), it cooks up beautifully, and it’s flavoured with lemon, cumin and coriander, so it’s super duper tasty.

Goodlife also make loads of other amazing vegetarian products, and I love how they’re all centred around vegetables, rather than aiming to replicate meat, and they’re all made with natural ingredients.

It’s so nice to see so many creative and exciting vegetarian products these days – the Goodlife mushroom and spinach kievs almost always feature in my weekly shop (a mushroom mixture stuffed with a super garlicky cheese sauce?! yes please), and the vegetable protein balls are so handy to chuck in the oven for an easy dinner for the kids (we love serving them in bread rolls as a kind of meatball sub!).

I’ve actually not tried a single Goodlife product that I’ve not thoroughly enjoyed, so definitely look for them if you’re in the UK (I get mine from Sainsbury’s).

Goodlife falafel displayed next to a falafel curry.

Just cook your falafel in the oven, and add it to the curry sauce. Job done.

Look how nice and crispy it gets…

Crispy falafel sitting in a pan of curry sauce.

Then when you toss it through the curry sauce, it soaks it up ever so slightly, helping the falafel to stay moist, while also holding their shape.

The falafel ends up functioning a bit like an Indian kofta, which is a bit like a meatball (or a vegetarian equivalent!). It makes such a hearty and filling curry.

A portion of falafel curry served with rice.

This falafel curry is just the sort of thing you could serve to guests, especially meat-eating guests, as there’s no way they could feel hungry or unsatisfied by this hearty vegan meal.

A portion of falafel curry and rice, with one piece of falafel broken open by a fork.

Easy falafel curry

This falafel curry is a brilliant way to serve falafel, coated in a creamy, spicy sauce – it makes such a hearty, filling curry! Perfect served over rice or with naan bread for dipping.

If you’ve cooked this recipe, don’t forget to leave a star rating!

4.91 from 11 votes
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Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 3 people
Calories: 439kcal
Author: Becca Heyes

Ingredients

  • ~ 18 pieces of falafel (6 per person)
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 mild red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ginger paste (or fresh minced ginger)
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 400 g tin (~ 1 1/3 cups) chopped tomatoes
  • 400 ml (~ 1 1/2 cups) tinned coconut milk (I used light)
  • Large handful fresh spinach
  • Salt
  • Black pepper

Instructions

  • Bake the falafel according to the instructions on the packet – it should take around 20 minutes. Make sure it’s nice and crispy.
  • Meanwhile, heat a dash of oil in a deep frying pan, and add the sliced onion, garlic, chilli, and ginger. Cook over a medium heat for around 5 minutes, until the onion has softened. Add the turmeric and garam masala, and cook for a few minutes more. You can add a dash of water if the mixture feels too dry – it should be the texture of a paste.
  • Next add the tin of chopped tomatoes and the coconut milk, and bring to a gentle simmer. Leave it to cook for a while – the exact timing doesn’t really matter, but at least 10 minutes or so will give a nice rich sauce (a bit longer is fine too!).
  • Add a handful of spinach to the sauce, and allow it to wilt for a couple of minutes, then add the crispy falafel. Stir gently to coat the falafel in the sauce, season to taste, and serve immediately.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Easy falafel curry
Amount Per Serving (1 portion)
Calories 439 Calories from Fat 231
% Daily Value*
Fat 25.7g40%
Saturated Fat 9.6g48%
Cholesterol 0mg0%
Sodium 282mg12%
Potassium 539mg15%
Carbohydrates 22g7%
Fiber 3.8g15%
Sugar 2.7g3%
Protein 5.4g11%
Calcium 73mg7%
Iron 3mg17%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on your exact ingredients. Please calculate your own nutritional values if you require accuracy for health reasons.

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Here’s another hearty vegan curry – slow cooker chickpea curry:

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16 Comments

  1. Very delicious sauce.
    Maybe I’m blind, but I don’t see where I am supposed to add the chili, so I added it after the spices and I added a pinch of sugar to balance the sauce.
    Will make again.4 stars

  2. I’ve made this twice now, such an easy, tasty sauce. As there are only two of us, I divided the sauce for a second night and poured each portion over the falafel rather than putting them in the sauce. It was even better the second night. Thank you.5 stars

  3. This is a lovely recipe and such a genius idea to use falafel in curry! I have now made a big batch of the sauce in portions for the freezer, so all I have to do is cook the falafel, warm the sauce and have an easy midweek family dinner. I hadn’t eaten Goodlife before but I have tried quite a few products now and like others have enjoyed them all. Thank you Becca5 stars

  4. Oh yes! What an excellent idea, Becca! These have gone into my Tesco basket straight away! 😋 Actually, I’m tempted to add them to your lentil and halloumi curry which I make on the reg.

    Totally agree about those Goodlife kievs too!

  5. Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe.  My family has some complex dietary stuff and not only can everyone eat this, everyone likes it.  Plus, it’s super easy and adaptable spice wise. I’m in the USA and Trader Joe’s makes a delicious frozen falafel that works wonderfully in this recipe. 5 stars

  6. I too, have never met a Good Life product I didn’t absolutely love! The falafels hold together beautifully and having endured some, which are capable of drawing all of the saliva out of one’s mouth, these are top notch! And as much as I love cooking from scratch, there are some days when you need a speedy option! Thanks for finding yet another way to enjoy these gems!5 stars