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7 min
13/02/2026
You might think cheese is only meant to go on top of protein in burgers. But what if it could be the source of protein, and actually become the burger fillet or the main protein in your curries and wraps? Meet halloumi, the Middle Eastern cheese that has been used in place of soya, paneer, or chicken, in burgers and curries. It’s an ancient cheese, whose making dates back around 1500 years to the Byzantine period.
Halloumi is an unripened cheese traditionally made from sheep’s or goat’s milk and is popular for one thing: it doesn’t melt when heated. This heat resistance makes it suitable for grilling, frying, and baking, which is why it has moved on from being just a side dish. Market trends show that this cheese is here to stay as more and more cultures embrace fusion dishes and experimental eating. As for this special cheese, how is it made, where is it from, and what makes it a good swap? Read on to find out.
Halloumi is mainly produced in Cyprus, but is loved in Syria, Lebanon, Greece, and Southern Turkey too. The cheese itself is semi-hard and compact, and quite elastic with a thin rind. The colour also varies depending on whether sheep, goat (white) or cow milk (yellow) is used. It comes in fresh or ripened varieties. Fresh halloumi also tends to have a minty flavour thanks to the use of dry or crushed mint during the dry-salting process.
Just like every other cheese, halloumi uses raw milk, but no starter cultures are added, as is added in typical cheese. The milk is coagulated to form curds. These curds are cut and allowed to drain in moulds for an hour, without being pressed. The drained curds are transferred into hot whey (about 94-96°C) and scalded for around 30 minutes. This step is what gives the cheese its compact and elastic texture.
After scalding, the cheese gains structure and is salted; traditional producers often sprinkle dry crushed mint on the surface before folding the cheese pieces. Finally, the cheese is preserved in brine (salted water) for more than 30 days, which both seasons and stabilises it for storage or sale.
Given how similar, if not firmer, halloumi is as compared to paneer, it has pushed this protein source as a popular meat alternative in burgers, especially for vegetarians. Because it doesn’t melt when grilled or fried, thick slices of halloumi can be used much like a patty. Restaurants and food brands around the world have already incorporated halloumi into their menus, and Indians are just about catching up.
Beyond burgers, halloumi is widely added to salads as a substantial protein add-in. Its ability to be seared while still keeping shape makes it ideal for tossing with greens, grains, and dressings, where chicken might traditionally be used. This versatility has helped halloumi cross over from Mediterranean cuisine into mainstream menus, making it a go-to option for those seeking lighter, meat-free substitutes.
Halloumi has elbowed its way into Indian cooking, mostly as a stand-in for paneer. The cheese works because both hold their shape under heat, but halloumi brings extra salt, so some adjustments need to be made.
Perhaps the easiest dish with halloumi is tikka masala. To make this dish, replace the paneer with halloumi and marinate it the same way as the former; just an extra step is needed – it needs to be grilled before being added to the tomato-cream sauce with garam masala.
This curry too follows a similar logic, but the cheese is pan-fried in butter with garlic, ginger, cardamom and cloves, then folded into passata (cooked tomato puree) with cream. This dish is rich and not diet food, but you can certainly amp up the nutrients by adding spinach into the mix.
Same principle as the tikka masala, halloumi gets a similar treatment and gets stuffed into a kathi roll. The cheese is first marinated in yoghurt and spices, golden fried and then wrapped in paratha with spinach, onions, chillies, spices, and sauces. To up the protein, you can add an egg to the paratha.
If paneer biryani can exist, so can halloumi biryani, which is yet to gain traction in the country, hence it feels less common. So far, online recipes have been more western, using curry paste, but you can make something simple like the Kolkata biryani, the vegetarian one and add halloumi to it.
The cheese also shows up in one-pot rice dishes using curry powder and also pulao, with halloumi cubes or bhurji in them. Consider making Mediterranean favourites like baked rice, salads, and tomato rice.
While traditional pakoras use vegetables dipped in chickpea batter and deep-fried, halloumi pakoras are also emerging. The cheese gets cubed, battered with spiced gram flour, then fried until crispy. They're served with tamarind and mint chutney, the same as vegetable pakoras. Samosas are rarer as the cheese doesn't work as well as spiced potatoes. But tandoori paneer samosas exist, where marinated grilled cheese gets stuffed into pastry and fried, so halloumi versions are probably inevitable.
For India's vegetarian population, halloumi adds another option to the protein rotation. Not an everyday staple, for it can be too expensive or too salty. But for grilling, for curries where you want firm texture, for experimenting with fusion recipes, it delivers. Whether halloumi becomes mainstream in India or remains a speciality cheese for urban experimenters depends on price, availability, and whether Indian palates decide squeaky cheese belongs in the curries. The cheese works in Indian cooking when cooks adjust for salt and expect a different texture than paneer.
