Guyanese Pholourie (Split Peas Fritters)

Guyanese Pholourie is a fritter made with split peas, flour, herbs and spices. It is typically served with mango sour, a popular Guyanese chutney/relish. A variation of pholourie is made without split peas, but I prefer the split peas version also called dhal pholourie.

When I was growing up in Guyana, my favorite school yard snack was pholourie. From Primary School to High School, buying Pholourie and mango sour for snack or even lunch was a rite of passage. Now I make pholourie for my children as their after school snack and they love it.

Ingredients for Guyanese Pholourie

• Yellow Split Peas
• All Purpose Flour
• Baking Powder
• Onion
• Garlic
• Geera (roasted Ground Cumin)
• Garam Masala
• Curry Powder
• Salt
• Coriander leaves (Cilantro) / Culantro (optional)
• Wiri Wiri Peppers or other chilis (optional)

See recipe card for exact measurements

Step by Step Instructions for Pholourie

Step 1: Soak the split peas over night. Rinse the split peas then soak with water over night or until the peas double in size. This allows for a smooth blend when processing the peas and a less grainy pholourie.

Step 2: Add the soaked peas along with the onion and garlic to a food processor. Then. blend until smooth. The longer you blend the smoother and fluffier the pholourie will be.

Step 3: Combine all of the dry ingredients and mix together well.

Step 4: Add the blended peas and some water to the dry ingredients and mix together to form a soft batter.

How to drop pholourie batter with your hands

Traditionally pholourie batter is dropped using your hands. You can add some oil to your palm, then squeeze the batter through the opening between your thumb and pointer finger and gently drop it into the oil.

How to drop pholourie batter with a cookie scoop

If hand dropping the batter is too complicated or scary, you can use a cookie scoop. Start by spraying your cookie scoop with cooking spray or dipping in oil. Then fill the cookie scoop with batter smoothing out the base. Next gently release it into the hot oil. I prefer this method because it guarantees a consistent shape and size with minimal effort.

Substitutions

• Onion and Garlic – instead of adding onion and garlic, you may add a bit of green seasoning (about 2 tablespoons) to the pholourie batter. Green seasoning is a fresh herb blend consisting mainly of scallions, celery, thyme, onion, garlic and pepper.
• Curry Powder – Most pholourie recipes use turmeric instead of curry powder. I love the flavor of the additional spices and heat in curry powder. However, feel free to substitute the curry powder in this recipe with 1/2 teaspoon turmeric.
• Baking Powder – Many pholourie recipes use yeast instead of baking powder. I prefer the baking powder version, but if you wanted a yeast version you could swap the baking powder to 2 teaspoons of dry active yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar (to bloom the yeast). Please note that this requires blooming the yeast before adding it to the other ingredients.

Variations

Here are some different ways to make this recipe your own:

• Spicy – Want to make your pholourie spicy, use a red curry instead of the yellow curry in addition to the wiri wiri peppers.
• Add chopped herbs – I love adding finely chopped cilantro and scallions to the batter. It enhances the flavor of the fritter and gives it a pop of color and texture.

See this spicy version of this recipe on my website! (placeholder for in-content link)

Equipment

I highly recommend using a food processor to get your split peas to be as smooth as possible. Don’t have a food processor? Then a blender with a smoothie cup, is your next best bet. If you have a high powdered blender, that can also work. Add some water with the peas to ensure a smooth blend.

I used a Cuisinart Professional Food processor and processed until then peas were fluffy. This took about 3 minutes. You can find my food processor at this affiliate link HERE.

Storage

You may keep your freshly cooked pholourie at room temperature for a day, but any leftovers should be moved to the refrigerator after that. Reheating in the microwave for a few seconds will quickly bring to their original freshness.

Video Tutorial For Guyanese Pholourie