Chilli halloumi spring rolls
Halloumi spring rolls are a hot favourite at our family dinners! An epic fusion of Cypriot and Asian cuisine. Doesn’t take long before the whole plate is finished. Crispy and golden rolls filled with a spicy brined piece of halloumi. To pair it up I like to have a bowl of jam to dip into. Sweet and savoury is always a winner in my eyes. And so you end up with a combination of hot, sweet and salty in a mouthful!
Chilli halloumi
The ingredients needed are really simple. I usually add plain halloumi in the spring rolls but I was grateful to be gifted some chilli halloumi from Dodoni Feta recently. It was the first time I tried it and I really enjoyed the added spice. I’m not usually one to eat chilli foods but this I could easily tolerate. It added another level of flavour to the halloumi spring rolls. If you cannot access this particular type of halloumi you may also use plain halloumi and add chilli flakes to your liking.
Spring roll pastry tips
Spring roll pastry is conveniently available at major supermarkets and Asian stores in the freezer section. The pastry should be treated just like phyllo sheet in order to work with it. Just need to follow two rules. Firstly allow the pastry to thaw to room temperature so you can easily roll it. Secondly use a damp towel to cover the pastry while assembling so that it doesn’t dry up.
How to assemble the halloumi spring
The spring roll pastry is quite large so it needs to be halved to wrap the halloumi strips around properly. Alternatively you may leave it as a whole square and use two halloumi strips next to each other to form a long spring roll, like a cigar.
To begin to assemble the halloumi spring rolls, half the square pastry along the diagonal to create two triangles. Work with one triangle at a time and make sure you cover the pastry you are not working with using a clean towel. Place the triangle with the larger side closer to you and the pointy end away. Add a mint leaf about 2cm away from the edge and a halloumi piece on top.
To wrap the halloumi, you do so the same way as you would a dolma. Fold the long side over the halloumi and then fold over the sides. Continue by rolling the halloumi forward and seal it. To seal it you need to brush the ends with cornflour mixed with water. That will hold the pastry together and it won’t darken during frying, unlike egg wash.
Tested 3 methods of cooking
To cook the halloumi I tested three different methods using fresh and frozen halloumi spring rolls: baked, shallow fried and deep fried. To bake the spring rolls, I sprayed them with oil and cooked them at 200°C fan forced for 22min until golden brown. The halloumi in the baked spring rolls dried up a lot and the texture was not the best. If I removed them after 15min, the pastry was not golden or crispy but the halloumi had a good texture. The results were worse with fresh spring rolls since the halloumi was not frozen, so it dried up a lot faster, before the golden colour was reached.
To shallow fry the spring rolls I used 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan on a medium/high heat. From fresh, the spring rolls only needed about 30sec on a hot pan on each side until they were cooked. To cook the spring rolls from frozen I reduced the heat to a medium, so that it will allow the halloumi to defrost and warm up at the same time. In that instance it took about 45sec on each side to reach a golden brown colour. The spring roll pastry had the perfect colour and texture. The halloumi was beautifully softened and had a good texture.
To deep fry them I added enough vegetable oil in a wok to cover the spring rolls. I allowed the oil to heat until it sizzled and then added the spring rolls in. I added about 10 spring rolls at a time so I don’t overcrowd it and to ensure they cook evenly. The halloumi spring rolls only needed less than 5min to reach that golden colour and I just turned them over once half way. Amazing flaky pastry and the halloumi was perfectly cooked through.
My preferred way of cooking
Deep frying was my most preferred way of cooking the halloumi spring rolls. I enjoyed the taste of the shallow fried spring rolls equally, but there was more work on my behalf. I had to keep rotating each one to avoid them burning and I couldn’t add more than five in my frying pan at a time. Whereas deep frying I only had to turn them over once and I could cook more at a time.
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- 20 spring roll sheets
- 3 225g packets Dodoni chilli halloumi
- 40 fresh mint leaves, washed and dried
- 2 tbs cornflour
- 4 tsp water
- vegetable oil for frying
- apricot jam or a sauce of your choice for dipping
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Thaw the spring roll packet as per packet instructions. While the packet is thawing prepare the halloumi pieces. First use a paper towel to blot and dry the whey from the halloumi. Adding wet ingredients on the spring roll pastry will affect its texture. Cut each halloumi along its fold so you end up with six thinner rectangular blocks. Slice the halloumi into strips at least 1cm thick. In the end you should end up with 40 pieces of halloumi.
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Mix the cornflour with the water in a small bowl and set aside. When the spring roll pastry is thawed, ensure it is kept under a damp towel so it doesn’t dry. To assemble cut the pastry sheet diagonally in two. Place one of the triangles under the damp towel and work with the other. Look at the step by step photos above for guidance.
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Rotate the triangle with the longer side closer to you. Place a mint leaf about 2cm from the end, add the mint leaf and then the halloumi strip on top. Fold the long side over followed by the left and right ends of the pastry. Roll the pastry forward, brush the end with the cornflour mixture and seal the ends well.
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Repeat the assembly process until all the ingredients finish, you should end up with 40 spring rolls. To cook the spring rolls heat up enough vegetable oil to deep fry them on a high/medium heat. Once the oil is sizzling it is ready to use. Add enough spring rolls in the wok/pot to fry but don’t overcrowd them. After 5min the spring rolls should be golden brown just turn them over half way through. Take the spring rolls out and place them in a strainer over a bowl. Consume warm with some jam or sauce of your choice. For more cooking tips read the blog above.
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You may also freeze the uncooked spring rolls to consume another time. To do so lay them in a single line in a freezer bag and seal. They keep well in the freezer for up to 3 months. To cook them just follow the steps above and fry them from frozen.
