Crispy Haloumi Fritters

Halloumi is such a fantastic grilling cheese. I like it just simply with some lemon and honey. But it's also quite versatile and you can use it in fritters just like I'm doing today. It gives it a lovely, savoury flavour. It also helps bind the fritter together. So I'm taking the opportunity to make fritters not just with the halloumi but with loads of vegetables. And all of these vegetables are totally interchangeable. So I'm adding some zucchini. I've also got some fennel, corn and onion. But you could add some carrot to this. A pumpkin works really well too. So if you need a bit of a fridge raid and you've got lots of little vegetables left over, a wonderful opportunity to use them up. So I've got one medium zucchini. And we'll add that to a bowl. If you have time, you can add this to the bowl, add some salt and squeeze the excess water. I'm not going to worry because they're going to bind quite nicely with the halloumi and also some flour that's going to be added. So for my other vegetables, some onion. OK, one small onion will do. To that, some fennel. I just love fennel raw, but cooked like this is just delicious. It's going to give it a lovely, fresh, anise flavour to it. And some sweet corn. Just some corn kernels. You can use some frozen ones, fresh ones or from the can. We'll give that a mix and that's our veggie base done. You can see this is going to make a large quantity. Fantastic if you've got a party, you can make them ahead of time. They're also great lunchbox fillers. OK, now for some herbs. I like dill. We've got the fennel in there, so we're really going along the lines of that anise flavour. I just think it's a fantastic addition to a fritta like this. You could also change this up and add some mint or parsley or just leave it out entirely. So we want just a couple of tablespoons of that. In it goes. And some cumin seeds. Now, the cumin seeds taste a little different from the ground cumin. It is the same thing, but when they're whole like this, they really impart a lovely nutty flavour. So a small amount goes a long way. So just a little pinch of that in there. We'll just mix that up. Right, in with our halloumi. I'm going to grate it quite coarsely. You'll need about 100 grams of this halloumi. OK, I'm going with a plain variety of halloumi because we do have lots of other flavours in our base mix with the dill there and the cumin. Just want that lovely savouriness of this cheese. It also holds its shape quite nicely, so it's not going to ooze everywhere as it hits the oil. OK, that should be plenty. Look at that. Pop that in. To this, we'll add some flour. About 150 grams to 200. And that's just going to bind everything together. And give that a good stir. I can also add just a small amount of salt. Doesn't need too much because the halloumi will have some salt in it. And then stir that and coat all of those vegetables in the flour. Now, the water really depends on how much water is in your vegetables. So, like, the zucchini retains quite a lot of water. So I'm going to add little by little. This is cold, icy water. So a little splash. I've got about a quarter of a cup there. Stir it through and then add some more. We just want that flour and the water just to bind it together so it just becomes slightly sticky. You want to work it a little bit. See how I'm just pressing down? And that's extracting some of the liquid from the zucchinis and the onions. And once it's sticky just like this, it's looking good. So I like to use two spoons. And the more rustic these are, the better they are because they're going to be super crispy. So I'm not going to make them into patties. I'm just going to use a spoon just to make them into little mounds. And see how it's holding its shape? That's what we're after. You can make big ones, little ones, whatever you like. I'm just going to shallow fry them in some extra virgin olive oil. All right, these lovely halloumi fritters have come out of the oil. And while they're still hot, season with a pinch of salt. And I'm going to serve this with a refreshing yogurt. So in a bowl, I'll add some Australian-style yogurt. To this, some garlic, finely minced. Not too much. You don't want to overpower about half of this clove. And to give it a nice smoky flavour, just a small pinch of smoked paprika. We'll give that a stir along with a pinch of salt. You could also add some lemon to this or even some lemon on the side would be quite nice. And we'll pop that into our little dish over here. And while these are still piping hot, you want to get them out to your guests because they're delicious hot. They're actually really nice served at room temperature too. But hear that crunch? That's what we're after. Look at that. And I'm going to break into this one so you can see how perfectly cooked they are. Oh, look at that. Cheesy vegetable fritters. The halloumi is what makes it. I'm going to dip it in the sauce. Mmm. Crunchy. Everything you want in a really good quality fritter. And more.