Today I have a quick appetizer dish for you, golden crisp halloumi fries. Halloumi has been one of my favorite cheeses for as long as I can remember. We’ve always ordered fried halloumi in restaurants and it is on the menu of every middle eastern restaurant. Halloumi is a fridge staple and we used it in pastries, shallow fry and serve it with tomatoes and cucumbers or serve it with fried eggs. Fried halloumi though is out of this world, I still remember the first time dad deep fried halloumi sticks for me, it was sooooo good!
Halloumi is a semi hard cheese and is traditionally made of a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milk. Well, I have a confession to make, I don’t eat anything that has sheep’s or goat’s milk. I know these cheeses are usually everyone favorite’s, but they’re not mine. Anyway, this is why I always choose a variety that is made of cow’s milk, which in my opinion tastes way better.
Now back to this recipe, the first time I had the halloumi fries at the legendary Oli Baba’s in London, I immediately fill in love with them, and though I had been a halloumi fan my entire life, this took halloumi to a new level mainly because of the toppings.
This recipe is my own take on the Oli baba’s fries. Though I think they’re similar, they don’t have the added spicy element, which in my opinion is absolutely not needed in this recipe. Don’t take me wrong I love spicy food, but I think it overpowers the taste of cheese, so I skipped it altogether.
Let’s get cooking!
First of prepare the flour. Adding zaatar mix and sumac to the flour is a game changer and will makes the fries taste good on their own without any additions.
Leftover flour can be reused, since it doesn’t get in contact with raw food. So, feel free to store it for the next time you will be preparing this, because you surely will!
Halloumi cheese usually comes in 220-250 g packages. This makes 10 delicious fries. How many potions that is, is totally up to you 😉
The toppings here are not be thought of as garnish. They actually make the fries taste 100 times better and in my opinion are all equally important.
I shallow fry the sticks but have seen versions of them deep fried or even baked. Feel free to experiment. I tried air frying though and it didn’t give brilliant results.
In all cases, these fries taste so good and will disappear in no time!
Halloumi Fries
Ingredients
For the fries
- 1 package (250 g) halloumi cheese block
- ½ cup plain flour
- 1 tbsp zaatar blend
- 1 tsp sumac
- Oil for frying
for the toppings
- 100 ml yoghurt
- 1 tsp zaatar blend
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- Fresh mint a handful, chopped
- Fresh thyme a handful
- 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds
Instructions
- Cut the halloumi block into 10 sticks.
- Combine flour, zaatar and sumac in a shallow dish.
- Heat the oil in a shallow heavy-bottomed pan.
- Coat halloumi sticks in flour mix and make sure they are coated well.
- Fry the halloumi sticks in the oil for approximately 5 mins turning occasionally, or until golden.
- Remove and drain on kitchen paper and serve on a platter.
- Mix the yoghurt with the zaatar blend and drizzle over the fries.
- Drizzle with pomegranate molasses and add all other ingredient under toppings.
- Best served hot.
