Trinidad Pholourie (recipe)

Filed Under pareve, vegetarian, appetizers, snacks | Posted on January 30, 2007

Pholourie

Yum Yum Yum. I love Trinidad street food. And I love love love pholourie. Pholourie are basically little balls of split pea flour fried and served in a thin sweet chutney sauce (usually mango or tamarind). You can buy them in little paper bags with the sauce in a little plastic bag included. So yum. When I was working in Port of Spain I would often buy a pack of pholourie and a doubles for my breakfast. So the yum!

Pholouries are not restricted to roadside vendors though, I’ve also eaten them as hors d’oeuvres at weddings and other events.

This was my first attempt at making pholourie at home and I was really surprised at how easy it came together. I wanted to have to a nice shot of the pholouries as they were draining, fresh out of the oil but my parents kept hovering and eating them still hot, so I never did get that shot. I suppose that’s a good sign for a cook tho? :lol: Also surprising, was finding out that this was my mother’s first taste of Pholourie. “MMM! So -this- is Pholourie!” she cried. I was shocked!

“C’mon momz, you’ve been living in Trinidad for over 30 years now!”

“True”, she said, adding that she didn’t eat street food though. I think she ate more of them than anyone
“They’re really moreish, aren’t they?”
“Yes mom, they’re totally ‘moreish’.

She’s never had doubles either. Well that will also change by the end of this week ;)

Pholourie
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INGREDIENTS:

2 cups split peas powder
1/2 cup flour
1 clove garlic, finely minced/pureed
1- 1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper
1 teaspoon saffron powder or 2 tsp curry powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
oil for deep frying

METHOD:

1. Mix split peas powder with all ingredients except water.

2. Add enough water to make a thick batter. Let rest for 1 hour.

3. Heat oil in heavy pot.
4. Drop batter, a teaspoon at a time into the hot oil, and let cook until puffed and golden brown.

Phoulorie

5. Serve with a thin fruit chutney sauce or a peppery tamarind sauce. I made a killer sauce by combining equal parts mango chutney and water and pureeing them with 1 clove of garlic. This is the consistency of pholourie sauce that one usually gets when purchasing locally on the roadside.

Pholourie

Spelling variations: Phoulorie, Pholourhie



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38 Responses to “Trinidad Pholourie (recipe)”

  1. Danielle on January 30th, 2007 3:45 am | link

    Mmmmm… fried dough. The consistency, shape, and ingredients change, but it seems every cuisine has its own version. :)

  2. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 7:05 am | link

    yes definitely :D hehe i saw a website that called it Trinidad’s zeppole :D not sure i would agree, but i understood that they were going for the fried dough street food analogy :D

  3. Helen on January 30th, 2007 11:10 am | link

    yummmmmmyyy…..I love, love phoulorie. Sarina, I have used a recipe similar to yours in the past and have found the results to be a little dry and somewhat firmer than the bought versions. It also had too much of a split pea taste. I always thought, maybe I should have used more flour and baking powder. I was thinking of trying the recipe from the NGHC. What do you think?

  4. Marsha on January 30th, 2007 11:25 am | link

    My first experience was in the tuck shop at Bishop’s ….Years later I tried it again in UWI and that was the BEST EVER! Then I made them myself Nikki…Man Oh Man! YUM

  5. Brilynn on January 30th, 2007 11:38 am | link

    There are so many things I’ve never tried, I want some!

  6. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 11:45 am | link

    try try try :D !!

  7. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 11:50 am | link

    hi helen :D the recipe in the NGHC is not too different from this one, but for sure you should play around with the proportions til you find something that you like :) I found this recipe had more of a garlicky taste than a split peas one, but it may also have to do with the brands that are used as well. It wasn’t dry and I also used cake flour instead of regular flour (it has less gluten so things wouldn’t be as firm). I would suggest trying cake flour and maybe a little more baking powder :) you wouldn’t want too much baking powder tho cos it has a kinda bitter aftertaste :) Oh, also you would want the oil to be at a good temperature as if it takes too long to cook that would also firm it up/dry it out… the best results I had was when the pholouri were done within a minute to a minute and a half :D hope that helps some :D

  8. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 11:55 am | link

    i wanna try the infamous UWI doubles :D I love pholourie in all its variations :D even d tuck shop doubles :D I only don’t like when it’s dark brown and overfried :D

  9. veron on January 30th, 2007 12:21 pm | link

    Yummy! These look like beignets. I love fried dough that is glazed with something sweet! I miss street vendors, they always have the best food.

  10. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 12:25 pm | link

    hee whenever i fry dough i hear someone say beignets! hehe :D street vendors are love :D i am shocked to hear there are places now that don’t allow them… that’s the problem… not enoguh exposure to germs!!

  11. lime on January 30th, 2007 1:54 pm | link

    oh goshm ya know how long it is since i had pholourie? yum!!! i love it.

    i also made that upside down chocoalte puding last night. my dear, that was sooooo fabulous. i think it is misnamed. i am redubbing it ’sex on a plate.’ yes, count me as one who has the addiction mentioned in the previous post.

  12. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 2:15 pm | link

    make some pholourie gyul :D put on some soca and pretend yuh by the savannah :D can’t help yuh with the coconut water tho :P

    OMG!! you made the pudding? :D OMG!! isn’t it HEAVENLY !!! oh gorsh!! There’s a cupcake version that I’ll be trying next month for Valentine’s day options ;) Keep a lookout :D

    but orm yeah. SEX ON A PLATE hehehe :D ;) ;) ;)

  13. Beenzzz on January 30th, 2007 2:59 pm | link

    I love pholourie! My mother makes it every time we have a family gathering. It’s always the first thing gone!! YUM!

  14. Helen on January 30th, 2007 3:08 pm | link

    Hmmm, never thought of using cake flour in a fried product but I will try your suggestions. Thanks.

  15. Sarina on January 30th, 2007 3:29 pm | link

    oh yay !!! :D do y’all call it by the same name? :)

  16. Beenzzz on January 30th, 2007 9:58 pm | link

    Yep, we call it by the same name. Now I’m craving it! :)

  17. Sylvie on January 31st, 2007 1:05 am | link

    yummmm. Those look so tasty. I have never seen split pea powder. I’ll have to check out some sources in Los Angeles. Thanks for posting about these.

  18. Sarina on January 31st, 2007 1:24 am | link

    they are one of my favorite street snacks :D Let me know if you have any luck locating the ingredients :)

  19. Chennette on January 31st, 2007 11:46 am | link

    an alternative to split pea powder (which I could never find in the UK) is chick pea flour, or some other pea flour.

  20. Sarina on January 31st, 2007 12:13 pm | link

    hey chennette :D you back? :D

  21. Chennette on January 31st, 2007 12:30 pm | link

    temporarily - at a meeting with WiFi

  22. Sarina on January 31st, 2007 1:12 pm | link

    hee :D yuh mashin up meh threadz :D i gonna have to make a thread post :D
    miss you :cry:

  23. burekaboy on January 31st, 2007 3:04 pm | link

    pholourilicious.

    deepfried with chutney; i’m runnin’ :D

  24. Sarina on January 31st, 2007 3:05 pm | link

    runnin’ away or towards? :lol:

  25. burekaboy on January 31st, 2007 3:15 pm | link

    duhh towards! :) **setting GPS**

  26. Vin Cache on February 1st, 2007 2:44 am | link

    I think even I could make it. Now,what kind of wine would go with it? Decisions decisions.

  27. Juliette on February 18th, 2007 5:04 pm | link

    Oh dear - I am so vex that I now check your polourie recipe cause it is 9pm on Sunday night and I am dribbling for it! hahahahaha
    Low and behold, there is no time like the present (won’t say that when on vacation and I can’t fit into a bathing suit!) :-))

    I have the pre-mix powder that just requires water! hahaha
    Will try the full version once I can locate the split pea powder in the UK (I expect this to be a task in itself)…

    Another great recipe addition! You win the Oscar for Trini recipes, hands-down - Yay!

  28. Sarina on February 19th, 2007 11:15 am | link

    haha i’d like to thank the Academy !! :lol:

  29. Today’s postcard is … » jugalbandi on April 18th, 2007 12:05 am | link

    […] in the Sea. Picture from here. Another popular street food - Pholourie. TriniGourmet’s Carribean cookbook […]

  30. Tom on June 2nd, 2007 2:57 am | link

    Ah love doubles & phoulorie, buh ah does miss mih cachourie gyul, so if yuh ever fine ah good recipe fuh dat leh mih no. Ah luv yuh website

  31. Sarina on June 2nd, 2007 8:26 am | link

    Aw thanks Tom! :) I’ll definitely keep an eye out and I’ll post it as soon as possible! :)

  32. malcolmxpark.org » Festivals: 5222 Walnut on October 27th, 2007 3:25 pm | link

    […] goat platter ($12) which included Spanish rice, baked mac and cheese, plantains, and a couple of pholourie (a Trinidadian street food). The goat was nicely done, though the curry was a little light for my […]

  33. GuyanaKiDD on December 1st, 2007 2:26 pm | link

    Is dat not barra?

  34. kim on February 18th, 2008 9:59 am | link

    Wow, I’ve been looking for a good pholourie recipe for a while now and most of them were horrible.

    This one really helped me - thanks!

  35. Keva on March 22nd, 2008 3:00 pm | link

    These look good! I’ve only heard about these ONCE on another website not even related to food. Now I know how they look. If I ever take a trip to Trinidad I definately want to try Pholourie! :-D

  36. Dameon on April 1st, 2008 3:34 pm | link

    sup! phalorie is the best and all u guyz gotta try shark n’ bake, currents rolls, dhal, and kruma! mmmmmmm kruma!

  37. Cindy on April 13th, 2008 4:09 pm | link

    Wow, I need to try your recipe for pholourie. I did some yesterday with another recipe(and although it tasted nice)it didnt really look like yours in the picture–it came out more like fritters. Maybe its how I drop it in the pan? Any tips??

  38. Sebastian on April 27th, 2008 6:02 pm | link

    I just made phoulourie but not this recipe. My recipe involved cooking split peas, letting them dry, and then grinding them to a fine meal. (this came from the book entitled “sweet hands)

    they turned out great and the two keys to fluffy perfect fritters are LET THE BATTER REST

    and MAKE SURE BATTER IS WET ENOUGH (even though it should still be thick)

    some people think the secret is yeast, and Im sure a recipe with yeast would be great. anyway

    i will try htis recipe after i work off the lovehandles formed from the first batch!

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