Spiced Honey Halloumi ‘Teiglach’

Serves 6-8

Prep time: 5 mins | Cooking time: 10-15 mins

We have drawn inspiration for this sweet starter from a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish sweet treat served at Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Simchat Torah and Purim. True Teiglach (pronounced tay-glach) are morsels of fried dough coated in a sticky-sweet syrup and piled together into mounds. 

The tradition of serving fried dough in honey dates back over 2,000 years, and has been seen in the repertoires of Jews across Europe throughout the centuries, with 12th Century Rabbis referencing a similar dish, vermilish, served at the start of a Shabbat meal. 

Our recipe, however, swaps out the dough completely, pairing sweet, spiced honey syrup with mounds of salty, fried halloumi nuggets. Supremely easy to make, only 5 ingredients and incredibly moreish, these ‘teiglach’ are an ideal milky starter or crowd-pleasing snack for the High Holy Days. 

Ingredients

• 400-500g Halloumi, cut into bitesize chunks and dried
• 7 tbsp Honey
• 1 tsp Chilli, finely chopped (optional)
• ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
• Light Olive Oil, for frying
• Fresh Rocket (optional, for serving)

Method

1. Cut up halloumi into small chunks (around 15-20mm) and pat dry on paper towels or a clean J-cloth
2. Heat a little oil over a high heat, then carefully add the halloumi chunks in batches of around 10 at a time, turning each one over carefully as they brown on the bottom. Once both sides are golden-brown, remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Repeat until all batches of halloumi are cooked.
4. Reduce the heat to medium, then add honey, ground ginger and finely chopped chilli to the empty pan, mixing together to create a runny syrup (this will happen quickly).
5. Add all the fried halloumi pieces back to the pan and stir to coat in syrup.
6. Remove from heat and allow to cool a little, then serve in small mounds. For colour, freshness and a subtle peppery note, we recommend serving on a bed of fresh rocket.*

N.B. Rocket will wilt under intense heat, so make sure your halloumi ‘teiglach’ have cooled enough before serving!

Photo by Yaffa Judah