Halloumi and Mango Salsa

I have acquired a lovely mini deep fat fryer as a new member of kitchen appliance community. Unusually it hadn’t been used before I got it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pretty old, because it is definitely pretty old. There are no temperature settings – you just turn it on and wait until it’s hot then turn it off again. Also, it came without a plug, but Pete was quite happy to do a spot of rewiring. What a man.

I haven’t used it too much yet, just some mini battered sausages (mixed success), a soft boiled egg which was then bread-crumbed and deep fried (I saw a posh chef do it on Saturday Kitchen; mixed success) and some deep fried camembert (filthy, resounding success).

Halloumi is a great little kitchen standby. It lasts for ages and is really quick and easy to prepare. It’s not to everyone’s taste, but I love it. I hadn’t tried deep frying it before and I wanted something nice and clean tasting to go along with it.

The mango salsa is something I’ve used before as a side dish, mainly with something meaty. I thought it would work really well with the saltiness of the cheese, and cut through some of the greasiness as well.

For two people you’ll need:

1 block of halloumi
A little flour
1 mango
1 large finger chilli
2 large sprigs of mint
Salad leaves to serve.

Chop the halloumi into sizeable chunks, dust with flour, and deep fry for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. If you don’t have a deep fat fryer you can deep fry them in a wok, shallow fry them in a pan, or grill them. Let them rest on some kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.

Peel and chop the mango, finely chop the chilli (with or without seeds, however you prefer), and tear the mint. Mix everything together in a bowl and serve on top of salad leaves. Sprinkle the halloumi on top.

I’m a real fan of this salsa. Although the flavours are strong they’re also really good at cleansing the palette, which is perfect for anything salty or greasy. If you have time I’d recommend making it a couple of hours in advance and letting the whole thing macerate.