Our apple curry is creamy, mildly spicy and subtly, but pleasingly sweet. This savoury apple recipe proves that apples aren’t just for sweet dishes!
This recipe fondly became known as The Infamous Apple Curry. It got legendary status when we first created it in our campervan, inspired by a desire to use up an excess of apples. Whilst cooking we worried that it wouldn’t work out, but as soon as we tried it, we loved it!
This curry is also one of the dishes that sparked the start of Vegan on Board, so it’s got a special place in our hearts!
Since then we’ve served it to hundreds of people. Some were a little suspicious of apples in a curry at first, but then they were pleasantly surprised, and asked for the recipe!
In various world cuisines like Indian, Sri Lankan, Japanese or African, apples in a curry are more common than in European cooking. So, we don’t claim to have invented the apple curry. But this is our own unique take on it, and we hope you enjoy it!
Ingredient tips
Here’s what you’ll find in our apple curry recipe. It’s easy to adapt and make your own, so don’t worry if you haven’t got everything.
- Apples - You can use any variety of apple. Cooking apples go a bit softer/mushier, and eating apples will have a more firm texture.
- Veggies - This curry is a great way to use up an abundance of seasonal vegetables. We’re using potato, courgette/zucchini and squash.
- Onions and garlic - Because every curry is better with them!
- Coconut oil - For frying. extra virgin coconut oil also adds a nice flavour.
- Curry powder, garam masala and tandoori masala - Spices are at the heart of any curry!
- Coconut milk or soy cream - For a nice creamy sauce.
- Peanut butter - This helps thicken up the sauce and adds a nice nutty richness. You could also use blended cashews, or some sunflower seed butter for a nut free version. Alternatively, whole toasted nuts adds a nice crunch.
- Cooked adzuki beans - These small, nutty and slightly sweet red beans are a great way to add protein to the dish. If you’ve not had adzuki beans before, we recommend trying them.
Variations and substitutions
This recipe can be easily adapted to suit whatever vegetables you have available. Just try to keep the ratio of apples to vegetables at around 1:1 for the real apple effect.
If you want more heat to this curry, then increase the amount of spices or add some fresh chillies.
Instead of the adzuki beans, you can use chickpeas or other pulses.
For some extra flavour you could use roasted potatoes or squash/pumpkin and add them to the pan later.
We’ve cooked versions of the recipe with both coconut milk and soy based cream, and they both work well. Choose whichever you prefer.
This Apple Curry has taught us a great lesson in cooking: Be brave, be curious, try unusual things! Be bold and imaginative! Try something that has never been done before (as far as you know)!
You might sometimes take a bad turn in a recipe, yes. But never stop experimenting! Now, go and cook that apple curry!
Paul & Sophie
We hope you enjoy your Apple Curry! Come back and try these other yummy vegan apple recipes:
Our Austrian Vegan Apple Strudel
This yummy Vegan Apple Cake with a crunchy nut topping
And our French inspired Vegan Apple Tart
📖 Recipe
Infamous Apple Curry
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 onions diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 6 cups (650 g) apples cubed
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) potatoes cubed
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) courgette / zucchini cubed
- 1 ½ cups (200 g) squash, butternut or hokkaido cubed
- 3 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp tandoori masala substitute 1 tsp garam masala + 1 tsp paprika
- 1 cup (240 ml) coconut milk or soy cream for cooking
- 1 ½ cups (350 ml) water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 can (240 g) adzuki beans canned or cooked
Instructions
- In a large frying pan or sauce pan, melt the coconut oil on medium-high heat. Add the onions and fry them until starting to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Then add the garlic and the spices: curry powder, the garam masala and tandoori masala. Stir quickly to keep them from catching while cooking for another minute.
- Add all the apples and vegetable cubes. Stir well to coat with the spices. Cook for another 2 minutes, and stir often and keep things from catching.
- Add the coconut milk or soy cream, water, salt and peanut butter. Stir to combine and bring to a boil, still on medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to low-medium, let simmer for about 15 min, or until the potatoes and squash are tender. Stir occasionally.Some types of apples might stay intact, while others might fall apart while cooking. Don't worry, either is fine!
- Towards the end, stir in the aduki beans and keep simmering to heat through for at least 3 more minutes. Done!
- Allowing the curry to cool for a 10 minutes before serving allows the flavours and the subtle sweetness of the apples to come out. Serve with rice, naan, popadoms and mango chutney, or our delicious red lentil flatbreads.
Notes
- Vegetables: You can substitute any of the vegetables with whatever you like. Sweet potato makes a good squash replacement. We like to keep it local and seasonal! Keep about a 1:1 ratio of apples to vegetables.
- Coconut fat: Vegetable oil, such as sunflower or canola (rapeseed).
- Spices: This calls for individualisation of your own Apple Curry. Use your favourite spice blends! Use any of the named spice mixes in place of the other. To replace tandoori masala for its red-orange color, also add a bit of paprika or mild chili powder.
Nutrition
This information is calculated per serving and is an estimate only.
Have you ever tried apples in a savoury dish? Let us know, in the comments below! 🙂
Jessica Padilla says
Fantastic! I’ve made it a couple of times now and it is a hit. Will keep it in the rotation. Thanks so much!
Sophie and Paul says
That's brilliant to hear Jessica! I hope you enjoy it again soon.
Pauline says
I have been doing veganuary for a few years and every year there is that one special recipe, this year is yours! I made it last night and it was absolutely fabulous.
Thank you so much for sharing your creativity! 😀
Pauline
Sophie and Paul says
Pauline, We are delighted you enjoyed it so much! Wishing you a very happy Veganuary - if you need more inspiration on what to cook, check out our Veganuary recipes. Thanks for your lovely feedback, all the best, Sophie.
Pauline says
Thank you fpr sharing this page! I bought celeriac earlier today to try out your schnitzel recipe. Can't wait! 🤗
Pauline
Hannah S says
Should I peel the apples or not?
Sophie and Paul says
Hi Hannah, we never peel the apples for this recipe, but it's up to you 🙂 Hope you'll enjoy the apple curry!
Baghmi Knott says
I love using apples in 'savoury' dishes - but my somewhat fussy family don't, so I suspected this would be one of those dishes which I sort-of enjoyed but the others not. What a surprise... they all loved it (and I have to say it was far better even than I was expecting)! The texture of the apples worked really well alongside the potatoes etc. It was also really easy to make thanks to the clear instructions and easy substitutions, unlike various others I've attempted. I arrived here by chance having searched for Vegan Apple Strudel - which also worked brilliantly - so I guess I'm going to have to try lots of your other recipes. 🙂
Bronnie says
Hi Sophie & Paul
I love this curry....it's sooooo tasty and full of flavour, thank-you for sharing! 😊💖
Sophie and Paul says
Yes! So glad you loved it Bronnie, it's one of our absolute favourites too - one of the recipes that inspired us to start the blog actually! 🙂 💖
Dora Fohring says
Absolutely phenomenal! I found this recipe by searching for curries inspired by the Pokemon Sword and Shield, where one of the curries in the game is an apple curry.
I couldn't find tandoori masala, so substituted garam masala and added extra cayenne pepper and paprika. I added two teaspoons of each, but I like spicy. I also had more of the potatoes and veggies than required, but that was just the size they came in at the market. I also added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and some frozen spinach I had around. I couldn't get soy cream so used regular cream instead. I realise this makes the dish not vegan, but I was okay with that. Next time I will try coconut milk though. The dish came out perfect! Absolutely super! I will be sharing it and have it bookmarked for making more. Love the fact that it's veggie.
Annelies says
I've never tried putting apples in my savory dishes other than salads before. I absolutely loved it ! Sadly I forgot to get peanut butter but there's definitely going to be a next time ! Very excited about trying the other recipes 🙂
Sophie and Paul says
Thank you so much! 🙂 Be sure to subscribe in the right sidebar to get an update on all the delicious recipes to follow! 😉
Renzi says
OMG! This recipe is perfect, and this looks good. We went apple picking, and I still have so much of it left so this was perfect timing. The smell of curry and apples. Hmmmm! I can probably do this tomorrow since I have some of the ingredients. I can't wait to try this. Thank you.
Charis says
Great article. I’ve never considered apple curry but your recipe makes it seem like something delicious that I’m willing to try.
Natalie says
I tried this the other day. It is absolutely fabulous.
Vickie Gould says
I love curry! And I never thought to put curry and apples together but this sounds delish!
Sophie and Paul says
Hey Vickie!
We love curries too, we basically live on them most of the time! The sweetness of the apples goes amazingly with the spices of the curry.
Sophie 🙂
Sophie and Paul says
I never thought it would work! But it did. I am now totally an apple curry convert. Sophie x