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.
I’m trying to incorporate more meatless meals into my diet because meat is expensive! I can totally see myself enjoy this tasty lentil curry for dinner 🙂
I am loving everything about this!! Pinned!!
I’ve never heard of this cheese before! Maybe Fresh Market would have it, but I tried to say it out loud, and it kept sounding like a strange Hallo-weenie. Maybe I’ll just write it down so I can match words. Or, you could just bring me some and we’ll make this together. Yes. Let’s do that.
Baha! I’ll take any excuse to go visit, and bringing you a hunk of cheese sounds like a pretty great reason 😉 It’s pronounced hall-oo-me (<- like me, myself and I), but if you go to a store and ask for Hallo-weenie, pretty please have someone record it and send me the vid!! xoxo Miss you!!
Miss you, too, sweet girl. Hope all is going well for you. Catch me up sometime. xoxo
Oh man, this looks way too good! I love lentils, and the addition of Halloumi sounds divine!
Halloumi is the shiz! It’s so salty and delicious. Adding it to curry is pretty freakin’ mind blowing. I would have never thought of it but now I must try!
Halloumi? Whaaaaaaaa? So curious. Love this because cheesy curry goodness. Pinning!
My next quest: find Halloumi. Sounds like a perfect alternative for my cow’s milk sensitive system!
Hey Elaine! I get it at Whole Foods. I’m sure most natural food stores would carry it, too!
Halloumi in curry lentils is basically the most genius thing ever- halloumi is like the most delicious not-cheese of cheeses 🙂
All of those reasons apply to me, and it’s been a while since I’ve been on a mechanical bull but some things are never forgotten! haha I’m Greek and I’ve never tried haloumi — ridiculous, right? I need to get on that, and no better time than when I make this!
I really need to get the haloumi bandwagon. Yes to curry all the things! This dish needs to happen, like now!
I’ve lost my britches!! Um, LOVE the halloumi in here!! So freakin genius!
Wow ! I feel like I’ve been missing out with the kind of lentils I’ve been making… You’ve taken them to a whole new level!
I’m a newcomer to halloumi cheese too, and I love that it grills so beautifully! This dish definitely has my name on it as I’m crazy about all things curry, creamy, and cheesy!
I’ve never actually made curry before! I think I better get on that! And I’ve also never eaten halloumi before! This meal has so many firsts for me, haha! I love how creamy and flavorful it sounds 🙂
Has anyone tried this with lite coconut milk? Does it cause serious problems?
Hi Jean! I’ll let you know if I make the recipe using lite coconut milk, but off the cuff, I would say the main thing would be the dish wouldn’t turn out as creamy. If you’re okay with that, lite coconut milk will definitely work – the curry will just have slightly less flavor and will not be as thick. Let us know if you try it out!! xo
I made this using Paneer instead of Haloumi, same idea, so delicious! Very easy to make and is the perfect compliment to rice. I also tried over roasted sweet potatoes and squash, still good. Adding to my recipe favorites!
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
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!