Griddled or fried halloumi with watermelon salsa

This is an unusual dish, a very contemporary Greek dish. Halloumi is a cheese from Cyprus, made from sheep's or goat's milk, or a mix of both. This is a cooking cheese prized for its stringy texture and salty taste. Fortunately, we can now easily find this cheese in Bangalore, India, and I love using it in both salads and appetisers.

This dish is a lovely contrast of flavours; the sweet-spicy salsa offsets the salty, stringy cheese. They come together as a riot on your palate. I loved this combination, and this is going to be a staple on my table. You can make this into more of a salad by adding tomatoes, cucumbers, and herbs like mint and basil.

This contemporary cookbook on Greek food is a work of art, with beautiful photographs and a wealth of traditional recipes that have been reimagined. So far, I have cooked a few recipes from here, such as Greek avocado toast, and they have all been amazing. I highly recommend this cookbook for chefs seeking to break away from traditional Greek cuisine and for those looking for something new.

For more wonderful recipes from this cookbook, click here.

Ingredients:

9 oz. Halloumi cheese cut into 6 pieces

For the watermelon salsa:

2 cups watermelon, rind removed, seeded, and finely diced

2-3 spring onions, finely sliced

1/4-1/2 red chilli, minced

Salt, to taste

2 tablespoons cilantro, minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

Mix all the ingredients for the salsa and allow the flavours to come together in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

To serve, heat a griddle pan or frying pan and fry the halloumi cheese till browned or streaked, about 1 minute on each side on a high flame. The cheese inside should be very soft and oozing.

Transfer to a platter or a spoon. Top with the salsa and serve immediately. Please encourage your guests to try this immediately so they can experience the texture of the hot, gooey cheese and the cold salsa.