Fried chickpea and halloumi curry

We bought some fresh halloumi from a local producer at the New Brighton Farmers Market earlier in the week so decided it was time to find a good use for it. We were going to concoct some halloumi burgers but ended up having bagels and a burger from Elwood Cafe for lunch, so needed an alternative. We haven't done much with halloumi before so had to ask the internet. The recipe below is an adaption from Half Baked Harvest which had some great looking food. As always, we used the veggies we had in the fridge.

Servings

2 (generous) 

Time

Time to chop and prepare ingredients, then about 30 mins cooking time. 

Equipment I used (main)

• Pan
• Simmer pad & saucepan (for rice)
• Chopping boards and knife
• Wooden spoon
• Strainer
• Grater
• Measuring 'cup'
• Bowls (for chopped ingredients)

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 150g halloumi, chopped into 1cm cubes
• 1x 400 can of chickpeas
• 1x onion, diced
• 4x garlic cloves, finely chopped
• Ginger (I used 1½  tablespoon of minced)
• Veggies: I used 1 cup of each of kale, zucchini, eggplant (I salted the slices and sat on paper towel to extract the bitter juices), corn (sliced from the cob)
• Curry powder (1½ tablespoons)
• Paprika (2 teaspoons)
• (Freshly ground) pepper (1 teaspoon)
• Sea salt (1 teaspoon)
• Can of coconut milk (400g)
• 2x tablespoons of tahini
• Can of chickpeas (400g)
• juice and zest of ½ lemon
• ¼ cup coriander, chopped
• ¾ cup rice (I used jasmine brown rice from Nimbin Valley Rice)
• water for rice and adding to curry

Method

1. I used brown rice which takes a bit longer, so I needed to put this on first. I wasn't worried if it got done early, could let it stand. For absorption method, rule of thumb for brown rice is 2 parts water for every part rice.
2. Coat the bottom of the pan with 1-2 ml oil and heat to medium.
3. Toss the halloumi until the sides begin to crisp (about 5 mins) and remove into a bowl. (leave the oil in the pan)
4. Add the chickpeas to the pan and similarly, fry for about 5 mins or until they start to crisp. 
5. Remove a couple of scoops of the chickpeas to use for garnish.
6. Add the veggies, garlic, onion & ginger to the pan and toss until the veggies begin to soften.
7. Add the spices and stir in until fragrant (about 30 second)
8. Add the coconut milk and tahini as well as about ¼ cup water. Stir and bring to a simmer for about 5 mins.
9. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest.
10. Serve with rice and top with the halloumi, the extra chickpeas and garnish with the coriander.