Haloumi with Raita and Witlof Salad on Crispy Poppadoms

From The Modern Vegetarian, Maria Elia, Kyle Cathie, 2009.

I love to eat haloumi so when I find a recipe that includes it I usually want to make it.

There were many parts to this recipe. The first and the easiest was to slice the haloumi and to fry it quickly until it was golden on both sides. It was then put aside while a spicy mix was made.

The spice mixture was made by mixing together 2 tablespoons mango chutney, a touch of grated fresh ginger, a pinch each of ground turmeric, paprika, cumin and coriander, a goodly amount of chopped fresh coriander and some salt and pepper. This mixture was spread onto the haloumi and when the dish was ready to be assembled this was placed in the oven to heat through.

I needed a poppadum for each person and these proved the most difficult part of the dish. The instructions said that they were best fried until they puffed up. They certainly puffed up but they also rolled up. So I tried the other method of using the microwave. This was better though not perfect by any means but I did get enough to use.

A raita had to be made by mixing together 3 tablespoons Greek yoghurt, a small amount of cucumber peeled and deseeded and cut into fine dice, ½ Granny Smith apple diced, a tablespoon finely chopped red onion, a little grated fresh ginger, a pinch each of ground coriander and garam masala, chopped coriander, and the juice of ½ lime. I really liked the addition of the apple to add its tart sweetness to the raita.

The salad greens were prepared by slicing a witlof finely, a small amount of fennel sliced, 2 dates sliced, shredded mint, chopped coriander and some watercress. These were all carefully mixed together and dressed with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, a touch of white wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

The dish was arranged by placing a poppadum on each plate. On top of this went a helping of the salad greens, some raita, and finally the warmed haloumi with its spice mix.

This was quite a lot of work to prepare all of the pieces so I don’t think it was worth all the effort. It was tasty, brimming with a mix of tastes, but I think that they were somehow lost when it all came together. It was also not the easiest to eat as the poppadum underneath slipped around the plate. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it. 

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔