Pholourie

Alica’s Guyanese pholourie uses soaked split peas for a seasoned fritter batter. Her mother’s version blends the peas with garlic and selected wiri wiri peppers, incorporates spices, flour and leaveners, and fries portions to a golden finish.

Dry split peas soak overnight in a bowl of water. That soaking water is drained the next morning. The peas, garlic and peppers go into a blender with separate water sufficient to cover the peas, and are blended until smooth.

The blended mixture is transferred to a mixing bowl. Turmeric, curry powder, ground cumin and salt are mixed in, followed by baking powder, yeast and flour. The batter is mixed thoroughly, covered and left to rest.

Oil is heated in a frying pan. In the selected hand method, batter is held in a fist and dropped through the thumb-and-finger opening into the oil. The fritters are turned as they fry so they brown evenly, and drained on paper towels following Alica’s own additional guidance.

Alica serves her batch with mango achar, which is the selected prepared condiment here. The soaked-pea batter is her documented family version, distinct from the split-pea-flour and premixed alternatives discussed elsewhere in the source.