THAT TEMPTING & OH SO… YUMMILICIOUS DEEP-FRIED PHOLOURIE

The famous song from the classic hit – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, is loudly playing in the house & it perfectly echo’s the current weather outside. I’m listening to the fascinating sound of pitter-patter of rain on the window panes, realizing how Zeus is about to unleash his fury and evidently, our plans of outdoor fun will be hurled aside.

Now I’m not sure if it is just me or it happens with everyone, a rainy day obviously calls for something fried! I started contemplating on what route to go?? – curly fries, sweet potato wedges, chips n’ dip, or something outrageously delicious. As a devout fan of Tea & Fritters nee Chai & Pakoda, I couldn’t have been more original than this. Therefore, I decided to come up with these Yummilicious Deep-fried Pholourie made from yellow split peas.

HISTORY OF DEEP-FRIED PHOLOURIE

This is a popular street food in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname. Pronounced as POL – OUR – EE, you can make these deep-fried Vegan fritters with yellow split peas and a lot of aromatic spices. Many years ago, the Indian diaspora brought Pholourie to the Caribbean islands. With passage of time, the original Indian recipe transitioned and merged with local Trinidadian culture, resulting in the taste we know today.

Pholourie is high in protein, fiber, niacin, and iron and is undoubtedly, a lot more healthy than your regular fries. Deep-fried Pholourie is a breakfast or tea-time snack that is best enjoyed with chutney or dipping sauce. If you don’t have the time, or the patience to make chutney or a dip, you can always use the store-bought ones like Swad’s Coriander Chutney, Swad’s Tamarind Date Chutney or Major Grey’s Style Mango Chutney. 

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5 from 1 vote

Pholourie

Print Recipe

Pholourie is deep-fried fritters made with yellow split peas and is packed with protein, fiber, niacin & iron.

Prep Time:12 minutes mins

Cook Time:15 minutes mins

soaking time:8 hours hrs

Total Time:27 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 2 Cups All purpose flour
• ½ Cup Yellow split peas, powdered
• ¼ Cup Cilantro, chopped
• ¼ Cup Onions, chopped
• 1 Tsp Curry powder
• 1 ½ Tsp Cumin powder
• ¼ Tsp Turmeric powder
• 2 Tsp Sugar
• 1 ½ Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp. Hot sauce or chopped chilies, as per taste
• 1 Tsp Ginger, chopped
• 2 Tsp Baking powder
• 1 Cup Warm water, for mixing into batter
• 1 Oil for frying

Instructions

• Add yellow split peas in a blender. Blend into smooth powder.
• Roughly chop Cilantro.
• In a large bowl, add all-purpose flour, split peas powder, sugar, curry powder, cumin powder, salt, turmeric powder.
• Whisk all the dry ingredients together.
• Add onions, hot sauce, cilantro, ginger paste & whisk all ingredients together.
• Meanwhile, place frying oil in a pan over medium heat until it reaches 375 degrees.
• Add baking powder to the mix. Add a little warm water to the mix.
• Start mixing & keep on adding warm water to make “pancake” like thick batter. Whisk a little & transfer into an airtight container.
• Let the batter stand for 2 minutes. If needed, add more warm water to reach desired consistency.
• Whisk a lot to incorporate air just before frying, to get light and fluffy fritters.
• Once the frying oil is hot enough, drop batter into the oil using a couple of spoons.
• Flip the fritters once they turn light brown on one side. Fry in batches, do not overcrowd the frying pan.
• Remove the ones that are golden brown on both the sides. Place on kitchen towel to discard excessive oil from fritters
• Serve hot with your choice of sauce, dip or chutneys, enjoyed best with tamarind and mint-cilantro chutney.
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Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Caribbean Cuisine, Indian Cuisine

Diet: Nut Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: all purpose flour, cilantro, onions, yellow split peas

Servings: 6 Servings

Author: SUNITA SANDHU

STORAGE

Once you completely cool down the fritters, pop them into a paper towel, then toss them into a zip lock bag or resealable bag or airtight container & refrigerate. You can conveniently store them in the fridge for 3-4 days. Additionally, these fritters freeze well too.

I generally reheat the fritters by placing them on a parchment lined baking sheet or oven-safe baking dish & popping in the oven for 10 -12 minutes at 180ºC / 350ºF until they come out all crisp & thoroughly warmed.

RECIPEFORTE’S FOODNOTES

• Pre-grounded flour or Soaked split peas – There are no short cuts to fresh, rich & authentic tasting Pholourie or any other food. I would suggest soaking split peas overnight (say…Friday night) & washing/ rinsing the soaked split peas next day (Saturday morning). You can then either fry the batter on Saturday or Sunday. On the contrary if you are on time crunch, go to local Guyanese or Trinidadian stores to buy some pre-ground split peas flour or easily order from Amazon.
• Taste test – After you have prepared your mixture, fry one or two Pholourie’s to see if it tastes the way you want it to. If not, add more of whatever you feel it needs. This way you won’t waste your entire batter! This process can be applied to any fritter batter.
• Yeast or Baking powder – I did not use any yeast in my recipe for three reasons. Firstly, because this recipe actually does not need it at all. Try letting your mixture sit a little longer to create more airpockets. Secondly, I refrain from using yeast is because of the bread-like flavor it adds to the batter & overpowers the pure fragrance & flavor of split peas. What’s more, adding baking powder simply lightens the texture of the fritters while giving volume to fried fritters. Thirdly, Why to use extra ingredients when they are not needed…right??
• Puffy fritters – A long time back my best friend’s mom, Aunt R, taught me a great trick on how to get puffy, sponge like deep-fried fritters, every freaking time! Whisk a lot to incorporate air just before frying, to get light and fluffy fritters. Unquestionably, it is one of the best frying trick ever made. Just try it & thank me later or just thank Aunt R!
• Frying Pan – Use a pan for frying that is both, big & shallow enough for Pholourie to float around. To rephrase it, we want to fry at least 10-15 Pholouries while trying not to over crowd the pan at the same time. I generally use a 15″ pan to do so.
• Perfect shape – As I have noted in the video, use 2 spoons to drop the batter into the hot oil. Soak the spoons in a little oil, use one spoon to scoop the batter & use the second spoon to gently scrape off the batter into the hot oil. To emphasize, coating the spoons in oil certainly prevents the batter from sticking to the spoon. You will get perfectly sized, round Pholouries every time. It just takes a little patience & practice…as always!