Falafel curry

The Middle East meets South Asian cuisine with this falafel curry from Adam Liaw.

Credit: Jiwon Kim

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  25 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g falafel
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 cinnamon quill
• 4 cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp brown mustard seeds
• 6 curry leaves
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp salt, plus extra to season
• 200 ml coconut cream
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ cup roughly chopped coriander
• Indian pickles, chutney, rice or Indian breads, to serve

For the tadka

• 2 tbsp (40 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 6 curry leaves (optional)
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1 dried red chilli
• ½ tsp mild Kashmiri or Korean chilli powder

Instructions

1. Place the falafel in an air fryer and spray with canola oil. Cook for 8 minutes at 200˚C until browned and heated through.
2. While the falafel is cooking, heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the vegetable oil. Add the whole spices to the pan and cook, stirring, until fragrant. Add the curry leaves, onion and garlic and ginger paste. Fry for a few minutes, then add the ground spices to the pan and stir until fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes and salt and stir until the tomatoes are lightly softened. Stir through 1 cup water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the coconut cream to the pan. Simmer for a further 5 minutes.
4. Stir through the air-fried falafel, garam masala and coriander, then remove from the heat. Taste the curry and season to taste to your liking.
5. To make the tadka, heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves (if using) and cook until the cumin seeds begin to brown. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 1 minute further, until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from the heat. Spoon the falafel curry into a large serving bowl and pour over the tadka.
6. Serve the falafel curry with Indian pickles, chutney, rice or breads to serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.