Crispy, halloumi goodness and warming curry spices...
Like many people, I LOVE cheese. Cheese for lunch, cheese for dinner, late night cheese snack – you name it.
I was trying to work out how to make cheese a central part of a dish. I recently discovered baked feta (try it with tomato and herbs– delicious!) and it made me wonder how else could you make cheese the main part of a dish?
Halloumi is an obvious choice, it holds together, has great taste and is so versatile. At first I considered putting in a tomato/stew type thing, but then BAM the idea came to me. Halloumi curry.
Paneer would be the obvious choice, but one – it’s not always sold in Tesco express (my usual stop), and two – halloumi has this intense, salty, almost meaty flavour which I think works really well with bold curry spices.
I’ve purposely tried to make sure the ingredients are easy to find, often curry recipes have an endless list of spices which no one has in their cupboards, so my aim was to create a base recipe that you can adapt to what you
have in your spice rack. Probably the most unusual ingredient is the curry paste, but now most supermarkets do stock it.
Needless to say, this is super easy, versatile and very, very tasty. It has become a firm favourite for me and a number of friends. Enjoy!
Halloumi Curry
serves 4 (generously)
Ingredients:
1 block halloumi (or more if you want more cheese)
2 tbsp Curry paste (NOT SAUCE!). Pataks tikka paste is good.
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic
3 peppers (any colour), roughly chopped
2 handfuls of other veg, roughly chopped (courgette, aubergine, beans)
400 g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp mild curry powder
½ tin coconut milk or 1.5 tbsp coconut cream block
2 tbsp peanut butter
Salt and pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
Optional extras: garam masala, chilli flakes/powder, turmeric
(see notes for ingredient replacement and store cupboard substitutions below the method)
Method
Cut the halloumi into 1.5 cm cubes roughly. Heat oil in a pan and fry the halloumi until golden on the outside. Pour into a dish and set aside.
In the same pan, on a medium heat, add some more oil and the curry paste and spices and cook for 1 minute. Add the onions and fry for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic, peppers and vegetables and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in the chopped tomatoes, curry powder, peanut butter, coconut milk/cream and any other thing you want to add. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until the vegetables are tender but not completely soft.
Finally, add the halloumi back in and season with salt and pepper. Heat through to warm the halloumi. Serve with rice and flatbreads.
Notes, substitutions and variations:
Curry paste: this is a paste, not a sauce. Be careful not to mix them up. There is a wide range of pastes out there, so try them out and let me know which is your favourite.
Spices: do add your own to taste, I have put the basics up there and a couple of optional extras.
Veg: put ANYTHING you have in there. Practically all veg will work, as long as it’s cooked through. Frozen peas, sweetcorn and similar are good freezer friends in this situation.
Tinned tomatoes: feel free to use passata or fresh tomatoes as an alternative to this.
Peanut butter: this makes the sauce super duper creamy and delicious. It really makes the dish.
Coconut cream/milk: these are interchangeable – see the above options.