Halloumi a weird cheese: it’s rubbery when cold and uncooked and doesn’t melt when cooked. This proved a popular way to use it. The quantity here would make a starter for four served alone. Half this recipe would make a good addition to a mezze plate with other bites of interest.
The Black Seeds of the title are nigella seeds which I managed to source at Waitrose. The original of this specifies Urfa chilli flakes so use those if you can get them; I deseeded a dried red chilli and used that.
Planning
| serves: | 4 |
| preparation time: | 5 mins |
| cooking time: | 8 mins |
Ingredients
- 100g runny honey
- ½ tsp nigella seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp chilli flakes
- black pepper, a pinch
- olive oil
- 1 lemon, zest & juice
- 2 blocks Halloumi, ~250g each
Method
Dry fry the coriander seeds in a small frying pan to develop the aroma a little. Preferably in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar, blitz or crush the nigella seeds, coriander seeds, chilli flakes and black pepper together as a powder. Stir the spices into the honey and set aside.
Cut each Halloumi into four thick slices.
When you’re ready to eat, heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and fry the halloumi slices for 3 or 4 minutes on each side until golden and crisp. I found a quite gentle heat was required.
To serve, plate the Halloumi slices and drizzle with a little lemon zest and juice. Pour over the honey and spice mixture, which will probably need warming in a hot water bath to make it pourable.
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