It's not a party if there aren't chips,
and this party just got a whole lot
better because these are made from cheese.
They're light, soft, gooey and perfect.
Soft and delicious halloumi with a paprika hit,
these chips will be impossible to resist.
I start by cutting the cheese into chip-size sticks.
So halloumi is the perfect cheese for frying because you can fry it
and all it does is it just becomes soft and gooey,
but it never disintegrates, never falls apart,
it really holds its shape.
Dry the halloumi sticks with kitchen towel.
That can't be fried because that doesn't look like a chip,
so I have to eat it.
Just has to be eaten.
On a large plate,
mix 150g of plain flour,
six teaspoons of garlic powder,
three teaspoons of paprika
and a pinch of salt.
So you could make up a load of this, stick it in a jar
and then you'd have it ready for whenever you wanted cheesy chips.
Next, whisk together two eggs.
So grab your cheese, get a few pieces straight into your eggs,
and then coat them all over.
So the eggs are like the glue for the halloumi.
So, I'm going to dip the halloumi into the egg,
then into the flour but, as if that's not enough
I'm going to dip them back in the egg and then back
in the flour, so we get a double coating of crispiness.
I'm trying so hard to keep my dry hand in my dry ingredients
and my wet hand in my wet ingredients,
and I've just gone and stuck my finger in the eggs. Oh!
It's a little bit like rubbing your stomach and patting your head.
I can't do it. I can't.
Oh, no, I'm patting both.
Growing up, we didn't have parties as such,
but every weekend my dad would cook up a sheep
and he would invite all his cousins, all his relatives,
and they'd all come round and they'd cook a big pot of rice
and we'd get together.
So we were having a party every weekend at my mum and dad's house.
Now that we've all got our own kids, we tend to get together
when it's the kids' birthdays or significant moments,
and never have those moments ever been without food.
In, and into the flour.
Can you see, after their second coating, they are covered
in that spice? I mean, look at that.
Doesn't that look like a southern fried chip?
Now, imagine all the oohs and aahs we are going to get
when the guests bite in and then there's lovely salty
halloumi cheese inside.
Right, now time to fry these.
Straight into the oil.
You've got to be sure not to overcrowd the pan,
otherwise it will lower the temperature of the oil,
so just a few at a time, enough for them to move around.
And you don't want to be frying them before guests arrive,
so what you can do is fry them beforehand and then just pop them
into the oven for about ten minutes, let them crisp back up again
and they're ready to eat.
They're not going to have a clue what's in these!
These do not take very long at all.
All I want is to warm up the cheese
and then crisp up the outside, that's it.
When the chips rise to the surface, they're cooked.
They look amazing, if I may say so myself.
These are delicious just as they are.
I could eat this whole lot right now but because it is for a party,
I want to make it a little bit fancy.
Garnish with sour cream, chopped mint,
a sprinkling of Za'atar and a teaspoon of chilli flakes.
Just to finish it off, pomegranates.
Soft cheese with the lovely crisp outside.
These chips are party ready.