Africana
By Lerato Umah-Shaylor
Fried halloumi (Wara/Wagashi)
With cherry tomatoes & red pepper sauce
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
This most interesting dish is inspired by wara (wagashi in Ghana), a delicacy I was introduced to by my neighbours in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. One version is made with tofu and the other is a dairy version made with something akin to Greek halloumi. Often tossed into stews, soups or enjoyed as a delightful snack, in my recipe a light dusting of flour and spices before frying gives the halloumi a lovely crust. The mellow cheesy flavour and texture works beautifully with the spicy red pepper sauce and sweet tomatoes.
Recipe From
Ingredients
2 x 225g blocks of halloumi or firm/ extra-firm tofu (dairy wara or soya wara)
5 tbsp cornflour or gluten-free flour
1 tsp smoked paprika
¾ tsp garlic granules
¼ tsp fine sea salt for halloumi or
¾ tsp fine sea salt (for tofu)
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
3–4 tbsp rapeseed oil
Handful of fresh basil leaves, sliced
FOR THE RED PEPPER SAUCE
2 red Romano peppers, stemmed, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 mild red chillies, stemmed, deseeded and roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2.5cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
75ml vegetable oil
1 large brown onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp smoked paprika
1–2 tsp chilli flakes
4 sprigs of thyme
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
10 cherry tomatoes, halved (mixed colours, if available)
Method
- To make the red pepper sauce, place the Romano peppers, chillies, garlic and ginger in a food processor and pulse to a coarse puree.
- Place a frying or saute pan over a medium heat and pour in the vegetable oil. Add the onion and fry for 5–7 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning, until it starts to take on a bit of colour. Pour in the pepper puree, stir and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Add the smoked paprika, chilli flakes, thyme sprigs and black pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook uncovered for 8–10 minutes. Pick out the thyme stalk and discard. If cooking with tofu, season well with fine sea salt; if cooking with halloumi, season lightly.
- Meanwhile, if cooking with tofu, wrap it in a clean cloth and place in a colander in the sink with something heavy on top. Leave to drain for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture. If using halloumi, simply drain. Slice the tofu or halloumi into 1cm-thick slabs.
- Place the flour, spices, salt and black pepper in a bowl and mix well to combine. Toss the tofu or halloumi in the flour, coating on all sides.
- Place a frying pan over a high heat. Drizzle 3 tablespoons of the oil into the pan and swirl to coat the base. Once hot, cook the tofu or halloumi in batches for 1–2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Remove from the heat and transfer to a plate. Heat a little more oil and repeat until all the slices are cooked.
- Transfer the sauce to a warm platter and spread out. Place the fried halloumi or tofu on top and scatter over the sliced basil. Serve immediately on its own or with bread, such as My East African Chapati (see page 196 in Africana) or Medina Bread (see page 194 in Africana), to soak up the wonderful sauce.
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