The Easiest Pholourie Recipe

6.5.16 | Recipe by Renz


 The perfect snack food for gatherings of family and friends.

A fried savory seasoned fritter that is commonly paired with some chutney of your choice. 

An easy recipe on how to make pholourie, a fried, spiced, flour mixture popularly eaten as a snack in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname.

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Well yes. This is the perfect snack to be posting on a Friday.

I usually don't post on a Friday but after Cinco de Mayo I needed a snack.

And I think pholourie (sometimes also spelled as polourie or phulourie) is the ideal recovery food.

This is a very popular snack not just in TnT (Trinidad and Tobago) but also in Guyana and Suriname.

They are multi-events eats. Don't be surprised to find them at birthday parties, or just as a snack with friends hanging out.

I have whipped up batches just to watch movies. It's like the island popcorn. And it is so easy to make.

But this recipe is not your traditional pholourie recipe. This is a pholourie with flour. A pholourie without split peas.

What is pholourie?


This is a street snack that is common in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname.

It is pronounced PO LOR RI

It’s a spiced dough ball, that is deep-fried.

You usually get them in a plastic bag soaked in some kind of chutney dip.

Those times it would be like $1 a bag.

Split peas are traditionally used in the flour mixture. That requires some overnight soaking of the split peas.

Personally, I do not like dhal (split peas) in flour. I really, really do not.

I avoid dhalpourie for the most part to not have to deal with split peas in my roti.

This recipe is the quicker version.

So if you are split peas in pholourie kinda person, sorry this recipe is not for you.

You can find a traditional recipe with split peas on the web.

So this is MY pholourie recipe. This is a “how to make pholourie with flour”.

What is pholourie made of


The ingredients list is pretty basic. Items you easily have in your pantry.

  • Self-raising flour
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Curry powder
  • Instant yeast
  • Baking powder
  • Water
  • Oil

And you are easily just mixing these all together and then frying.

You do need to make it sit for a bit so that the yeast can kick in so that you can get a light pholourie.

 
A pot of oil with pholourie frying in it



During your downtime with the mixture, I suggest you use that time to make whatever type of dipping sauce you are going to make.

If you don't have the time, or the patience to mix up a dip, you can try the store-bought chutneys.

I especially like the mango chutney from Callaloo Box.

Sometimes I may use saffron instead of curry but I much rather the curry flavor.

I know people always complain about not getting the pholourie to be round when dropping.

I don’t have the skill to use my oiled hand to drop like the professionals. I normally use the two spoons method.

I pick up with one tablespoon then use the other spoon to scrape it into the oil.

You can also easily use a cookie scoop. And use that to scoop out and spring out. It works well.

But it’s not a must. Sometimes they are round, sometimes round with a tail.

But who cares once they taste good?

  
A close up of pholourie with a red bowl on the side



I love stuffing a few plains ones into my mouth. The curry gives these fry balls a flavor that really doesn't require much.

But who wants to just have plain old pholurie?

The best sauces for pholourie


Hot out the oil I can eat them. Straight with no sauce.

When it starts to cool and such I need some chutney included.

There are a lot of different sauces or chutneys you can pair pholourie with.

They can be runny sauces like tamarind or mango.

Or chunkier dips like cucumber or pineapple.

Tamarind is my favorite though.

Reheating


Sometimes, you might make a batch and there are leftovers, so what do you do with them?

Just reheat when needed.

I easily wrap my leftovers in a paper towel and throw them in the microwave and warm up in bursts.

I do like 30 seconds at a time so that I don’t overheat and they get rubbery.

And I only warm-up what I need to eat at the time. Cause after that rewarm I don’t advise another. They will get rubbery for sure.

  
One ball of pholourie with some tamarind dipping sauce on it


These are the perfect snack for those little family gatherings or even movie night.

This flour pholourie are worth the try. And just as flavor-filled as the originals.

And f you are like me and prefer plain flour instead of dhal.

I assure you, you will not stop dipping and popping these into your mouth.

Love them!

Make sure to check out these other Caribbean snacks: 










Comments

  1. Is there another spice that I can replace the curry with? I’m not a fan and it really doesn’t sit well with my tummy.

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    Replies
    1. Hi. You can try saffron instead of curry powder. I sometime use half and half with the curry. I've never tried it thought with only saffron.

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  2. Hello, is it possible to substitute self rising flour for all purpose flour?

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  3. I didn't let it rest for 30 minutes but it still came out beautifully I also added just a pinch of cumin for added flavor and I replaced one of the teaspoon of curry powder for saffron powder amazing. Thanks for your recipe.

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    Replies
    1. You are most welcome!! Thanks for mentioning the adjustments

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