Vegetarian Lentil Curry with Halloumi is a marvelous make-ahead meal for your busy workweek! This amazing Thai curry recipe is loaded with aromatic flavors for a delicious vegetarian dish.
Hey now. This’ll make you lose your britches.
Have you dabbled in the magical land of lentil curry? What about haloumi cheese??
If any combination, permutation, and/or all of the bellow apply to you, drop everything you’re doing right meow and make this!
- You love lentils
- Curry’s your jam
- You enjoy a good hunk of cheese
- You dig rice.
- Things that are creamy make you say hey-o!
So basically, all of you should get up on this like an undergrad in cutoff jorts on a mechanical bull.
Sorry bout the visual.
Or, you’re welcome?
But seriously, this meal is ridiculously straight-forward and gives you all of the following niceties:
- Gluten-free
- Great source of fiber
- Vegetarian (you can totes add chicken)
- Super fancy yet easy to prepare
- Lightning quick to make
- An easy go-to any night of the week
If not for the above, do it for the flavor, because this is creamy.
Don’t be afeard of the long grocery list – most of the items in the recipe are spices and you probably own them all already!
The great news is you can replace all of the individual spices with 3 tablespoons of yellow curry powder if you have it on hand. This will reduce a great deal of measuring.
How to Make Lentil Curry with Halloumi:
What do we do here to make this thing happen?
We cook the lentils and the rice first, as that process takes the most amount of time.
To prepare the curry, sauté an onion with the seasonings. Stir in the coconut milk, lentils, and halloumi, cook to a boil until very fragrant, then serve the curry over the cooked rice.
Speaking of halloumi…
What is Halloumi?
I didn’t even know what halloumi was until recently.
I thought it was made out of soy. It’s totally not.
Halloumi (or ‘haloumi’…both spellings are commonly used) is brined cheese made from a combination of sheep’s milk and goat’s milk and originates from Greece.
It’s hard, yet soft. You can legit grill it on a flaming hot grill.
Or put it in grilled cheese sandwiches. And you can roast it.
You guys, it’s like if my soul cheese had a name, it would be called Halloumi.
It’s basically the cheese you’ve always wanted but never knew existed.
Discover it with your mouth in order to fully grasp it’s power.
Use sparingly, it’s expensive.
If you’re a fan of meatless curry, be sure to check out my Vegan Red Curry Zucchini Noodle Bowls and 30-Minute Thai Green Curry with Avocado.
Fusion food and go!
Lentil Curry with Halloumi
Ingredients
Yellow Curry Lentils & Halloumi
- 1 1/2 cups dry green lentils uncooked
- 1 cup dry brown or white rice uncooked
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil or olive oil
- 1 yellow onion finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger peeled and grated
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom optional
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper optional
- ½ teaspoon sea salt to taste
- 1 14-ounce can full fat coconut milk, + more for serving*
- 5 ounces haloumi chopped into ¼ to ½-inch cubes
For Serving:
- Cooked basmati rice
- Fresh cilantro chopped
Instructions
- Cook the lentils and rice according to the instructions on the packages.
- While the lentils are cooking, heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and all of the spices and salt. Cook an additional 5 to 8 minutes, until onion is cooked through.
- Add the coconut milk and bring to a full boil. Reduce the heat slightly but maintain a gentle boil for 10 minutes, until sauce has thickened slightly.
- Stir the cooked lentils into the sauce and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 to 5 minutes. For a thinner sauce, add more coconut milk until you reach your desired sauce consistency.
- Add the cubed halloumi and cook just until halloumi is hot, about 2 minutes.
- Taste the lentil curry and add additional sea salt or spices to taste.
- Serve over cooked brown rice or basmati rice with freshly chopped cilantro.
Halloumi originates from the little Mediterranean island of Cyprus, not Greece! It is eaten in thick slices, grilled in a non stick pan and served with tomatoes in pitta bread, or grated in pasta or just as is in sandwiches or even rolled in flour and zataar and deep fried to dip in tzantziki… Try it!
Do the. Lentils have to be green? I have a bag of beluga lentils in my pantry that I can’t decide what to do with. Are they the same – just a different color? Thanks