Butter Halloumi Curry (2024)

A surprising and decadent twist on this popular Indian inspired dish! Halloumi is roasted and mixed into a butter masala sauce for a tasty vegetarian curry that everyone can agree on. This halloumi curry recipe is easy to make at home in just 30 minutes.

So lately, the Happy Veggie Kitchen approach to recipe brainstorming goes something like “find chicken recipe, replace with halloumi”… My regular readers may have noticed.

I am obsessed with this cheese. I promise to give you a break soon. But not today.

Halloumi Curry Though?

YES. No apologies.

This epic dish is my halloumi-fication of Butter Chicken. And another instance where we have a vegetarian version that ramps up the decadence factor instead of making it healthier.

SCORE.

Halloumi curry might seem like an odd choice, but paneer curries are my absolute favorite, and halloumi has similar grillable and non melting qualities, so I figured why not?

And yep, halloumi works really nicely in curry. In this recipe it is roasted with a dusting of garam masala before being stirred into the butter masala sauce.

I wondered if a halloumi curry would be too rich? Nah. It’s rich, for sure, but not too rich. Just on the right side of decadence for me.

Oh and guess what? Butter halloumi is super quick to make!

Another twenty minute curry for the collection. Because quick and easy curries are my new obsession.

I know that traditionally a curry should be prepared over a longer space of time to allow the flavors to develop perfectly, but thirty minutes is how long I have to make dinner on a given weeknight, and curries are one of my family’s favorite things to eat, and so I just have to make it work.

And it does work! Of course, with this and any other curry recipe you see here, if you have longer to let the sauce simmer, do!

If you are super organized and can make the sauce in advance, do!

But if you’re like me, horrible at planning and short on time in the moment, I’ve got you covered anyway. This is still going to taste great.

How to Make it

The workflow is quite nice. You’ll put on some rice while the oven pre heats, then sprinkle some garam masala over your halloumi and roast it while you get to work on the sauce.

To make the sauce, you’ll fry up some whole and ground spices, mix with tomato sauce and paste, then add lots of butter and cream at the end before mixing in that halloumi.

Dinner is done!

The sauce is based on Gordon’s Ramsey’s butter chicken, but I used a smidge less butter and cream. Feel free to correct that and add more butter and cream if you dare!

Butter Halloumi Curry

4 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 20 minutes mins

4.56 from 145 ratings

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Ingredients

250 g (8.8 oz) block of halloumi, sliced into chunks
½ tsp garam masala , for sprinkling

Sauce

2 garlic cloves
1 tsp of minced ginger
2 whole cloves
1 cardamom pod, seeded
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp tumeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
240 ml (1 cup) passata / tomato sauce
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
80 ml (⅓ cup) cream*
30 g (2 Tbsp) 2 tbsp butter , (more for frying)

Instructions

Heat the oven to 200C / 390F.
Spray a large baking sheet with oil. Put the halloumi on top and sprinkle with garam masala. Spray with another layer of oil and then place in the oven for 10- 12 mins until golden.
Meanwhile, get to work on the sauce. Melt some butter in a pan and then add the garlic, ginger, cardamom seeds and cloves. Fry for a moment until the garlic is softened.
Add the ground spices (coriander, tumeric, garam masala and chili powder) to the pan and cook for a minute or so, letting the spices become fragrant.
Add the tomato paste and mix through the spices before adding the passata (tomato sauce) and lemon juice.
Simmer until just before serving.
A few minutes before serving, add the butter and cream and stir over a low heat until the sauce has become creamy (but be careful not to cook it for too long or on too high heat at this point to avoid the cream splitting.)
Add the halloumi last, and mix through until it’s coated in the sauce.
Serve immediately, over rice.

Notes

*I used single cream, which is a light cream available in the UK, but you could use double / heavy cream if you want an even creamier finish. If you’re in America, note there is no direct equivalent to single cream but if you wanted to use half and half, it would just end up a little lighter, and runnier – so add some extra tomato paste in that case.

Cuisine: Indian Inspired

Course: Main Course

Author: Christine