Trinidad Pholourie (recipe)
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? 
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
——————————————————————————–
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.
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.
Spelling variations: Phoulorie, Pholourhie
Making my first attempt tonite at pholourie. In case you’re wondering what it is: http://tinyurl.com/5vss4r
Mmmmm… fried dough. The consistency, shape, and ingredients change, but it seems every cuisine has its own version.
yes definitely
hehe i saw a website that called it Trinidad’s zeppole 
not sure i would agree, but i understood that they were going for the fried dough street food analogy 
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?
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
There are so many things I’ve never tried, I want some!
try try try
!!
hi helen
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 
hope that helps some 
i wanna try the infamous UWI doubles
I love pholourie in all its variations 
even d tuck shop doubles 
I only don’t like when it’s dark brown and overfried 
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.
hee whenever i fry dough i hear someone say beignets! hehe
street vendors are love 
i am shocked to hear there are places now that don’t allow them… that’s the problem… not enoguh exposure to germs!!
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.
make some pholourie gyul
put on some soca and pretend yuh by the savannah 
can’t help yuh with the coconut water tho 
OMG!! you made the pudding?
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 
but orm yeah. SEX ON A PLATE hehehe
I love pholourie! My mother makes it every time we have a family gathering. It’s always the first thing gone!! YUM!
Hmmm, never thought of using cake flour in a fried product but I will try your suggestions. Thanks.
oh yay !!!
do y’all call it by the same name? 
Yep, we call it by the same name. Now I’m craving it!
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.
they are one of my favorite street snacks
Let me know if you have any luck locating the ingredients 
an alternative to split pea powder (which I could never find in the UK) is chick pea flour, or some other pea flour.
hey chennette
you back? 
temporarily – at a meeting with WiFi
hee
yuh mashin up meh threadz 
i gonna have to make a thread post 
miss you
pholourilicious.
deepfried with chutney; i’m runnin’
runnin’ away or towards?
duhh towards!
**setting GPS**
I think even I could make it. Now,what kind of wine would go with it? Decisions decisions.
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!
haha i’d like to thank the Academy !!
[...] in the Sea. Picture from here. Another popular street food – Pholourie. TriniGourmet’s Carribean cookbook [...]
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
Aw thanks Tom!
I’ll definitely keep an eye out and I’ll post it as soon as possible! 
[...] 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 [...]
Is dat not barra?
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!
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!
sup! phalorie is the best and all u guyz gotta try shark n’ bake, currents rolls, dhal, and kruma! mmmmmmm kruma!
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??
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!
Finally, I had my first Pholourie at DC Carnival (along with my first curry chicken Roti) a few weeks ago. WOW and WOW!!!
I either need to visit Trinidad for about a month every year and/or marry a wonderful man from Trinidad that knows how to cook well.
Well, I guess I could learn how to cook it myself, but I like the other options better.
Delicious food.
-Ant
VIRGINIA – USA
I MADE THIS AND IT CAME OUT HORRIBLE…. I NEED A PRECISE MEASUREMENT FOR THE WATER BECAUSE I MADE IT CORRECT THEN AFTER IT RISED WITH THE YEAST IT WAS TOO THICK AND THE AMOUNT OF SAFFRON U SUGGESTED MAKE MINE VERY DARK IT LOOKED BURNT WHEN IT COOKED IT TASTED DISGUSTING.. IM SORRY BUT CAN YOU PLEASE RE DO THE RECIPE?… THANK YOU FOR ALL THE OTHER RECIPES WERE GREAT!!
p.s does it matter what brand of split peas?
Dominique – so sorry you’ve had a problem with the recipe as it’s one I use often without incident. The next time I make it I’ll record the amount of water used as I go by feel usually on these things.
Some suggestions: The split pea flour should be finely ground, like powdered sugar
The saffron/curry powder, is a personal preference. I have not had probs with it making the batter too dark (as you can see in the pic). It may be the brand you used, in that case definitely use less. The color change should really be negligible, just a little bit darker.
Now the most important part, the consistency of the batter. It should be thick, but still wet. Think of cake or brownie batter. You don’t want it to appear like dough, it should still be easy to stir and have a glossy finish. I’d rather you erred on the side of the dough being a little too wet than too dry.
Do give the recipe another try with those suggestions and changes implemented and let me know if they made a difference
well i found this in an old indian cookbook finally..
it had an extremely similar name
hte book is “indian cookery”
by e.p. veerasawmy
philouries (dal fritters)
1/2 lb dal flour (they spell it dhall)
1/2 ts tumeric
1/2 ts ground cumin seed
1/2 ts ground red chillies
2 red or green fresh or pickled chillies, finely minced
1 large onion finely minced
2 cloves garlic finely minced
make thick batter with salt and pepper to taste, one egg, beaten, and enough sour milk or curds
cook in spoonfuls in hot oil until golden rown
sounds familiar!
i have to find out what is meant by sour milk and curds
they have another one that is made out of soojee which is indian wheat flour but the name is the same (philouries)
soojee/suji is semolina flour, can be bought corse or fine, yellow or white. Curds means yogurt and sour milk, I don’t know. I’m actually a kenyan hindu. It’s intresting how similar food is. I’m enjoying learning a taste for trinny food with the blog and thanks for the insparation. I’m actually going to attempt to make roti tonight.
Thanks again and good luck
Dave
hot tasty mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm pholourie.try one and another one and another one and well eat all
lol….im eating some now….when my uncle Bobby brought home some he gave me…..in me paper bag of course xD….so i goodled it to watch some good pics to open my appitite even more xD……btw….you can also use normal flour….and a bit of safron for colour
[...] personally am not trying to mess up this Pholourie recipe, so i won’t even bother making [...]
[...] the best place to come for coconut water straight from the nut, and for Indian delicacies like pholourie and saheena. This photo captures two things I sincerely miss about home — All Saints Church, [...]
Gawd gyul… ah cyah wait for Thursday to do this…
Does anyone know where I can find split pea flour in the Los Angeles area? Please help out a homesick Trini in Cali.
This is great! Last time my husband was home he brought back four pouches of pholouri mix and got me hooked, but once the pre-made mixes were gone–no more pholouri. Now I know what to go get to make my own. Thanks!
Dear Jo, there is nooo comparison between pholourhie from scratch and the ones that come from a mix
i think you’ll enjoy!
do you have any recipies for mango or tamarind chutney? thanks.
Hey Jo, I don’t have any at the moment. I keep meaning to make/post one
[...] Minmi!Japanese soca via Minmi – Summertime For more Soca clips visit Toronto-Lime.comTASTES:Phoulorie – a popular street food, enjoyed year round (click here for a recipe) var addthis_pub = ''; [...]
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