This recipe came from a new book called Terre A Terre. Terre A Terre is a vegetarian restaurant in Brighton, England and the book has some amazingly creative, unusual recipes for dishes that you won’t have seen anywhere else. Their aim is to challenge the image of vegetarian food and push the boundaries of conventional perceptions by creating gourmet vegetarian cuisine.
This recipe is a vegetarian play on the traditional English friday night take-away dish: battered fish with mushy peas & tartare sauce from the local fish & chip shop.
Battered Halloumi with Minty Mushy Peas, Tartare Sauce & Yemeni Lemony Pickle Recipe
Serves 2 -3, vegetarian. Adapted from Terre A Terre by Amanda Powley & Phillip Naylor
For the halloumi
- 1 pack 250 gr halloumi cheese
- 250 ml buttermilk or 125 ml yoghurt mixed with 125 ml milk
- plain flour for coating
- sunflower oil to deep fry
For the batter
- 75 gr plain flour
- 35 gr self-raising flour
- 2 tsp white wine vinegar
- 120 ml cold water
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- salt & black pepper
Cut the halloumi in to thin slices (less than 1/2 cm) then cut them into triangles. Cut the triangles with the natural break of the halloumi. Put the buttermilk or yoghurt/milk mixture into a dish (I used an empty one-litre ice cream tub) and submerge the halloumi in the liquid to soak overnight, or for several hours in the fridge.
To make the batter, whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl to the consistency of double cream. Adjust the water/flour if necessary. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge until you are ready to cook the halloumi.
Just before serving, heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer to 180°C. Put some plain flour in a shallow dish and remove the halloumi & batter from the fridge. Lift the halloumi pieces, one at a time, out of the buttermilk and let it drip off slightly. Put it in the flour and flip it to coat, then put it in the batter. Open a window unless you want your whole house to smell like deep frying. When the oil has reached temperature, lift the halloumi out of the batter and carefully drop it into the hot oil. Fry two triangles at a time. It should puff up and start to turn golden straight away. If not, it means your oil is not hot enough. Turn the halloumi with a slotted spoon to cook on both sides. This should only take a minute or two to be crisp & golden on both sides. Remove with the slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
For the Mushy Peas
- 200 gr frozen peas
- a big handful of mint, keep the stalks & chop the leaves
- a big handful of parsley, keep the stalks & chop the leaves
- 50 gr unsalted butter
- 2 medium potatoes, peeled, quartered and put in a pan of cold, salted water
- salt & black pepper
Bring the pan of water with the potatoes to a boil, turn down slightly and cook for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender all the way through.
Meanwhile, in a small pan of boiling, salted water, cook the peas with the herb stalks until tender (about three minutes). Drain the cooked peas and throw away the stalks. Blend the peas with the butter and chopped herbs, season with salt & pepper to taste.
Drain the potatoes and mash them well in the pan. Heat up the pea puree and add this to the mashed potatoes, stirring well with a wooden spoon. Add more salt & pepper and taste again. Just heat through in a pan when ready to serve.
Serve with tartare sauce and lemon wedges or a spicy lemon pickle … enjoy!
