Homemade Halloumi and Anari
INGREDIENTS
7 litres unhomogenised cows milk (6 litres for the halloumi, 1 litre for the anari)
18 junket tablets or 1.2ml of 200 IMCU strength liquid rennet
3 tablespoons of white vinegar
Salt
Dried mint
Fresh mint
METHOD
1. Pour 6 out of the 7 litres of milk into a large pot and bring it to 35°C. Crush and dilute the junket tablets in a couple of tablespoons of water. Remove the pot off the heat once it’s reached 35°C, add the diluted junket (or liquid rennet, if you’re using that) and stir well. Cover with a clean tea towel and chopping board, and let it sit for at least 40 minutes to allow the milk to congeal.
2. After 40 minutes, give your curd a light touch to check it has solidified. With a wooden spoon, stir and break really well into small curds for a good 5 minutes. Pop your pot back on the heat and bring the curds and whey to 42°C, maintaining that temperature for a further 15 minutes, continuously stirring.
3. Separate the curds from the whey, ensuring you keep all of the whey, as you’ll need this to cook the pressed curds. You can either pour from one pot into another, straining the curds with a cheesecloth or, use a draining spoon to collect all the curds in a cheese strainer lined with a cheesecloth, sat in a bowl. Apply approximately 4-6kg of weight to assist the curds to drain, pour any excess whey left in the bowl back into the pot and leave your curds on the side while you make the anari.
4. Pour the litre of milk into the whey and bring it up to 70°C. Add the vinegar, and with a wooden spoon, stir extremely slowly, keeping an eye on the temperature. You want it to hit 80-85°C. Once you see it start to foam, stop stirring and let the anari form. Scoop and collect the anari either into a bowl or cheese strainer. I encourage you to enjoy this immediately with some honey and cinnamon.
5. Once you’ve collected all of the anari, bring the whey up to 90-95°C. Remove the halloumi curd from the cheese mould and cut into 2 even slabs. Gently place the curd slabs into the heated whey and allow them to cook for 30-40 minutes until they have risen, keeping an eye on the temperature; you don’t want the whey to boil and bubble. Give them a gentle nudge to avoid them from sticking to the bottom of the pan while they cook.
6. Once they have risen to the top, wait 5-10 minutes, then gently remove them from the hot whey and place on a cutting board to lightly cool. Remove the excess moisture and rub salt and dried mint on both sides. Place a spring of fresh mint in the centre of each halloumi and fold over in half. Repeat with the other slabs.
Homemade halloumi and anari video here.
