I asked Philip the other day what meal he would choose if it were his last. (Morbid I know!) I was dead chuffed when he said it would be my chilli halloumi. Well, poor love doesn’t get much chance to have dairy in our house so I let him off… So, I thought I’d give you the recipe too. I often make a prawn or simple veggie version for me at the same time.
This is so simple, it’s embarassing:
Pop some brown rice on to cook. I tend to add a bit of turmeric and a few cumin seeds in the water to give it flavour and colour.
Then, chop up a fresh chilli or two depending on how hot you like things and pop them in a saucepan. Chop up some veggies of your choice. I tend to use french beans, leeks and mushrooms or tomatoes but it’s really whatever takes your fancy or you have in the fridge as it doesn’t matter what you use; it’ll all be nice.
Cut the halloumi pieces, if using that, into largish cubes (not too small as they will shrink anyway), pop some water in the pan with the chilli, stir round a bit on the heat and then throw in the veggies with a little more water. Pop the lid on and steam for a minute or so to cook them a bit.
Then, add the halloumi chunks (or not) and a good dash each of tamari and rice mirin (from supermarkets in the exotic/world foods section) if you have some. No matter if you haven’t, it will still be yummy, but I find these add another dimension to it.
Stir round to coat everything then put the lid back on and cook for a bit, stirring several times to ensure the flavour gets into everything. Add a bit more water or even a little olive oil as you want plenty of sauce. This should only take about 5 minutes on a lowish heat. If there isn’t enough sauce, add a bit more fluid and cook for a bit longer. If too much or you want to thicken it, take the lid off and let it bubble a bit.
If you are using prawns, add cooked large ones once the veggies are almost there and cook for just a minute or so to warm them through. If you cook them too long, they tend to go rubbery, which is a shame.
Serve your mix on top of the rice and drizzle the sauce all over the rice. Yummy.
Tip: Another version of this is even more simple. Just cook the halloumi with chilli and a little oil until brown on all sides (or cook the chilli a bit, then warm through some prawns in it) and serve with brown rice. Less saucy but just as tasty.
I discovered halloumi a few years ago as I moved to Cyprus, never heard of it before. But straight away I fell in love with that delicious cheese that is so versatile and gives its special note to so many dishes. Very often we try new halloumi recipes and there is not one week since then, that we won’t have at least one meal with halloumi, not to speak about BBQs, where having halloumi is a must.
Thank you for sharing this recipe and giving me a new idea.
Thanks Piedro. Glad you liked it. Enjoy!