Cypriot Fried Haloumy Cheese (Saganaki Haloumi)

UmmBinat's Note:

With gluten free option. A very quick to prepare tasty meze. We enjoy this as a delicious breakfast item or it could always be a snack! I serve it with pita bread but a crusty bread would be very good. Modified from The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos, Cyprus section.

• Total Time: 8 mins
• Prep Time: 4 mins
• Cook Time: 4 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 4

Yield: 4.0

• 8 ounces haloumy cheese (or 250g called "haloom" in Arabic)
• flour, for coating (To be gluten free I use a mix of white rice flour and half the amount of tapioca starch)
• olive oil (best to use unrefined)
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges
• crusty bread (or pita bread or to be gluten free, rice crackers)

Directions:

1. Cut cheese into 1/4 inch slices, dip in water and dredge in flour if desired (I do like it this way).
2. Heat enough oil in a small frying pan to cover base, fry cheese until slightly golden on each side.
3. Squeeze some lemon on top and serve with rest of the lemon wedges and a crusty bread or some pita to dip into the lemon flavoured oil.

Reviews

[awalde]

I added some pepper to flour and I baked this with little oil on the barbecue.
With some fresh tapenade (Simple Olive Tapenade by Katzen) and homemade bread we had a delicious complete meal.
It was something like "bringing the summer back on our table" .
Thanks for the idea¨!

[Pink_Diamond]

This is a great recipe. I served this over Greek Pitas and drizzled with lemon juice. Oh yum!!!! Thanks for sharing your lovely recipe.