Home-made pholourie

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

When I published my recent post on Trinidad street food, the eagle-eyed ones of you would have noticed a glaring omission to the round up. Pholourie – fried balls made from spiced flour and served with either a mango or tamarind sauce.

For some reason, every Indian food stall I visited while I was in Trinidad either didn’t sell or had run out of the delicious snack. Now that I’m back in the UK, I’ve cooked my own home-made pholourie. I used the recipe from my Trini food bible, The Multi-Cultural Cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean: Naparima Girls’ High School Cookbook. I converted all the measurements from cups to metric and imperial as well as scaled it down so that the portions were right for two people. It made around 20 small balls. It would be simple enough to scale it back up again if needed.

Making split pea flour using an electric spice grinder | H is for Home

Where I live, it’s not easy to get hold of split pea flour without buying it off the internet, so I made my own. I have a little processor that’s for grinding spices so I used it to powder some dried split peas. It worked surprisingly well – I just sieved out the few residual lumps.

Pholourie ingredients in a clear glass bowl | H is for Home Wet pholourie mixture | H is for Home

Simply combine all the ingredients (except the water) into a large bowl, make a well in the centre, pour in the water, whisk and spoon teaspoonfuls into pre-heated oil. A useful tip: dip two teaspoons into the cooking oil before you heat it. Use these to drop the batter into the pan – it will just slip right off!

Frying pholourie in a small wok | H is for Home Removing excess oil from the cooked pholourie on kitchen paper | H is for Home

I looked for tamarind concentrate in the supermarket to make a sauce to accompany my home-made pholourie. Instead, I came across a bottle of imli pani, which I’d never heard of previously. Apparently, it’s served alongside panipuri.

Plate of pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

The imli pani ingredient list includes tamarind, sugar, cayenne, salt, chilli, mint, cumin coriander, mixed spices and black pepper. Not a million miles from a Trini ‘tambran’ sauce!

Plate of pholourie with a small bowl of imli pani | H is for Home

My pholourie was delicious – crisp on the outside, soft and spongy on the inside, with a lovely flavour. If I’d known how quick and easy they were to make… I might have set myself up with a street food stall – I’d clean up!

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

Home-made pholourie with tamarind sauce | H is for Home

Home-made pholourie

The multi-cultural cuisine of Trinidad & Tobago and the Caribbean: Naparima Girls' High School cookbook
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Snack
Cuisine Trinidadian
Servings 2 people

Ingredients
  

  • 250 ml/8¾fl oz vegetable oil for frying
  • 85 g/3oz split pea flour
  • 80 g/2¾oz plain flour
  • 1⅓ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper sauce
  • 1 clove garlic finely chopped
  • 125 ml/4½ fl oz water

Instructions
 

  • Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed pan with vegetable oil up to at least the 8cm / 3" mark
  • Dip two teaspoons into the oil and set them aside to use later
  • Preheat the pan of oil over a medium flame
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the split pea flour, plain flour, baking powder, turmeric, salt, pepper sauce and garlic
  • Make a well in the centre and add the water
  • Whisk together to form a thick batter
  • Using the pair of oiled teaspoons, carefully drop a teaspoon of batter at a time into the hot oil. The size of my pan meant I could fit about 6 pholourie at a time
  • When the pholourie begin to float (less than a minute), turn them over using a metal skimmer or slotted spoon so they cook evenly
  • Remove from the pan onto some kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil
  • Repeat until all the batter has been used
  • Eat immediately
pholourie ingredients
Serve with tamarind sauce or pepper mango chutney on the side
Keyword Indian food, street food

Trinidad beaches: A trip around the coastline

Trinidad Beaches: a trip around the coastline | H is for Home

This is the second in my roving reports from Trinidad. Last time, I checked out the street food on offer. This week, I’m taking a trip around the island visiting popular and less well known Trinidad beaches.

During the 3 weeks that I was over there, I was lucky enough to go to Chaguaramas, Maracas, Las Cuevas and Mayaro – only a tiny proportion of the beaches the country has to offer. I reached out to a bunch of old school friends and my aunt, who was visiting at the same time, for images of the rest of the coastline. The response was overwhelming so I’ve managed to assemble a fabulous collection of photos – over a hundred… it was a true group effort!

You’ll grasp the varied history of the island from the diverse names of the places that I mention. Trinidad – with its indigenous Amerindian people – was colonised by the French, Spanish and finally, the British.

I’ve put the photographs into some semblance of order, beginning at Maracas in the north and travelling clockwise around the coast. There are even a couple of short film clips to add some extra island flavour!

Maracas

Probably the most popular beach in Trinidad – especially at the weekend. There’s a huge car park, changing facilities and plenty of food and drinks places. Deckchairs can be hired and there are safety flags and lifeguards on duty.

Tyrico

A little, almost hidden away, beach between Maracas and Las Cuevas. Because of this, it’s always more chilled and less crowded. The sea water is also calmer in this spot; therefore suitable for children and less confident swimmers.

Tyrico Beach, Trinidad © Coleen Power
Tyrico Beach, Trinidad © Coleen Power

Las Cuevas

Las Cuevas (Spanish for ‘The Caves’) was a lot more developed than the last time I’d visited; granted, that was way back in the 1980s sometime. There’s now a large car park, changing rooms and lifeguards. We visited midweek – so there were few people there. We stayed about 3 hours, leaving around 2pm. One thing I remember from the 80s though, the sandflies come out in force at sundown – I doubt that’s changed – bring your insect repellent if you’re visiting later in the day.

Blanchisseuse

The name derives from the French for ‘washerwoman’. You access Blanchisseuse either via the North Coast Road or driving north from Arima via a twisting & turning road which passes the Asa Wright Nature Centre, a destination I highly recommend. Head for L’Anse Martin Bay to the West, Marianne Beach and River to the East and 3 Pools and Avocat Waterfall an inland hike from the river.

Grande Riviere

The Grande Riviere river empties out into Grande Riviere Bay. The beach is renowned for the huge leather-back turtles that return year after year to lay their eggs in the sand. Because of this spectacular natural phenomenon, the area has developed into an eco-tourism destination.

Grande Riviere, river © Celeste Chariandy
Grande Riviere, river © Celeste Chariandy

Toco

Toco is the most north-easterly place in Trinidad and the closest point to sister island, Tobago. It’s a popular spot with surfers, being the windy, rocky confluence of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. At the end of the road stands Galera Point Lighthouse.

Manzanilla

I filmed a few seconds our journey to Mayaro through the rear windscreen of the minibus on our way to our trip to Shangri-la Vacation Home. Mile upon mile of coconut tree-lined road hugging the Atlantic shore, in parts, a few narrow (and, at times, perilous) feet away.

Manzanilla, as I said, is located along the Atlantic coast. The sea can be rough and choppy with dangerous currents – especially at high tide.

Mayaro

The coast of Manzanilla meets Mayaro at the bump that is Point Radix, the location of the spectacular 300-acre Ben Deloraine Nature Reserve. I’m not going to lie, I went all the way down to Mayaro with family but didn’t go near the beach or the sea; I stayed liming round the Shangri-La pool.

The main reason was because of the sargassum. It’s not as serious as it was last year, but it’s still piled up along the tide line and floats around in the sea. Another justification for me not embarking on the less than 5-minute walk to the beach wasn’t because I was lazy. No, it’s because I was stung by a man o’war jellyfish as a child in the sea at Mayaro; an experience I’ll never forget. But don’t let me put you off – Mayaro is a beautiful place!

Moruga

Moruga is a small fishing community with a number of claims to fame. It is said to be the spot where Christopher Columbus landed when he ‘discovered’ Trinidad. The La Ruffin Bridge at Moruga is the only suspension bridge in use in Trinidad. It was originally built to transport the cocoa from the nearby plantations to market. Its maintenance was lacking – and local fishermen used it to moor their boats – resulting, in 1993, in its collapse into the river as a van was travelling over it. Luckily, it is now on the Heritage Asset Register. The town is home to the Trinidad Moruga scorpion – the 2nd-hottest chilli in the world.

Icacos

Icacos is the most south-westerly point of Trinidad and therefore the polar opposite of Toco. It’s a calm peninsula of sandy beach bordered by a parade of coconut trees, a stone’s throw across the Gulf of Paria from Venezuela. Head for Columbus Bay where you’ll spot the Three Sisters rock formations out at sea.

Port of Spain

The sea around the capital city isn’t necessarily a place to go for a swim. Rather, it’s arguably one of the best places in the country to pull over in your car – perhaps with a bite to eat – to watch the stunning sunsets this part of the coast enjoys.

Chaguaramas

Chaguaramas is a stretch of coastline that lies just to the west of Port of Spain. This makes it a place where people go (especially Macqueripe), mid-week, for a ‘quick dip’ to unwind after a day at work. It’s very accessible; Western Main Road runs closely alongside. The area is where sailing types congregate; a number of boat yards and marinas exist such as Small Boats, Power Boats and the Sailing Association.

Down-the-Islands

Or ‘Dung-de-Ayelans’! Not a ‘beach’ as such – and only accessible by boat – Down-the-Islands is a little collection of mostly uninhabited islands in the Bocas (Spanish for ‘mouth.). They are touching distance from Venezuela. The islands include Monos (Spanish for ‘monkey’), Gaspar Grande, Huevos (Spanish for ‘eggs’) and Chacachacare (its original Amerindian name); the last being a former leper colony.

Here’s a visual depiction of where all the Trinidad beaches I’ve mentioned are located..

Outline map showing a number of Trinidad beaches | H is for Home
Outline map showing a number of Trinidad beaches

Trinidad street food to try when you’re there

Trinidad street food to try when you're there | H is for Home

I’ve just returned from 3 weeks in Trinidad – the place where I grew up – on a joint business and pleasure trip. When I visit the island, one of the main things I look forward to doing is indulging in the array of delicious street food that’s available.

All the images included here were taken either by me, my good friend, Simone or my aunt Coleen who was visiting at the same time – on holiday from Canada.

Doubles

Doubles are probably my favourite of all the street food you can buy in Trinidad – and they’re the messiest to eat! Doubles – an Indian dish – are two bara (hence the name ‘doubles’) with a spoonful of curry channa (chickpeas) in between. You have the option of a sprinkling of kuchela, amchar, tamarind chutney, chopped cucumber and/or pepper sauce. Ask for “no pepper”, “slight pepper” or “plenty pepper” depending on your tolerance for chilli!

Two women making doubles at the roadside on Tunapuna Road, Arima | H is for Home

Locals have them for breakfast – to set them up for the day – or in the wee hours following a late night out drinking and socialising.

Buying doubles at the roadside in doubles at the roadside on Tunapuna Road, Arima | H is for Home

Roti

Ask six people who makes the best roti and you’ll get half a dozen different answers! Roti is another Indian speciality eaten  straight out of the wrapper with the hands. It’s a soft, slightly spiced bread – similar to a tortilla – that is stuffed with curried vegetables, meat (chicken, beef, goat, lamb) or seafood (shrimp, conch) and condiments such as curry mango and pepper sauce before being folded and wrapped ready for demolishing.

A couple of the best roti places are Hosein’s on Eastern Main Road, San Juan and Hott Shoppe on Mucurapo Road, St James. The one pictured below – a dhalpuri roti filled with channa, potato and pumpkin – (which was the best one I ate on my visit) was from The Roti Café, Upper Saddle Road, Cantaro, Santa Cruz. I sat down to eat at a table outside, washing my roti down with a Carib from the Roundabout Bar next door – it doesn’t get much better than that!

There are a few different forms of roti from which to choose; the aforementioned dhalpuri, sada, parata/buss-up-shut (busted up shirt) – they’re all good!

Vegetable dhalpourie roti with a bottle of Carib lager beer | H is for Home

Ice cream

As well as doubles and roti, I was most looking forward to becoming reacquainted with B&M ice cream on Western Main Road in St James. The home-made ice cream is available in a variety of flavours – chocolate, coconut, rum & raisin, Guinness, cocopine, peanut, cherry vanilla, barbasop (barbadine and soursop) – and my own personal favourite – soursop (guanábana).

B&M ice cream vendor. Western Main Road, St James | H is for Home

Coconut water

Nothing quenches the thirst in the midday tropical heat of Trinidad like coconut water. There are half a dozen or so coconut vendors to choose from around the Savannah in Port of Spain. Back in the day, they were sold out of the back of old wooden carts. Today, the vendors have fancy chariots sporting colourful wrought ironwork and advertising boards. To find them, head for the west side of the Savannah, opposite the ‘Magnificent Seven‘. When you’ve downed the water, don’t forget to hand the coconut back to the vendor to chop it into segments so you can eat the delicious jelly.

Coconut vendors around the Savannah. Port of Spain, Trinidad | H is for Home

Snow cones

Snowcones comprise of a dome of shaved ice (about the size of a tennis ball); a few squirts of brightly coloured, sweet flavoured syrup and topped with (optional) condensed milk. To be honest, they’re not my favourite, but they’re very popular – especially with young kids!

Snowcone vendors in Trinidad | H is for Home

Gyros

Not everyone is a vegetarian like me. There’s a lot of choice for the carnivore too! The number of gyros stands has exploded in Trinidad, helped by the rise in Syrian immigrants to the country. Ariapita Avenue, or simply ‘The Avenue’, in Woodbrook/St James is Gyros Central.

Yousef Gyros on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, Trinidad | H is for Home

The Avenue is where many of the capital’s popular bars are located. Often, where you find people drinking alcohol, you’ll find people who crave a kebab (the nearest UK equivalent of a gyro). It’s not just drinkers though, people stop to buy gyros on their way back from work to eat them at home.

Working the rotating spit at Yousef Gyros on Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook, Trinidad | H is for Home

Jerk

Another meaty street food to be found in Trinidad is jerk. It arrived fairly recently from Jamaica, further up the Caribbean, and in becoming an increasingly popular choice. The meat – usually chicken – is marinaded in a jerk seasoning and cooked on a barbecue. It’s served with French fries with toppings such as BBQ sauce, tomato ketchup and the ubiquitous pepper sauce.

Jerk chicken vendor. St James, Trinidad | H is for Home

Bake and shark

Or should that be shark and bake? Whichever way you say it, it’s a must when you visit Maracas Beach. Maracas was the place my friends and I would drive to every Sunday to relax after a hectic weekend of partying.

The ‘bake’ part is a fried bread, the ‘shark’ component is self-explanatory – pan fried, seasoned shark. However, these days, other types of fish such as king fish, grouper and talapia are used as a substitute for shark – mainly due to environmental and availability reasons. The bread is topped with salads, condiments and sauces of all kinds. The bake and shark pictured below is from Uncle Sam & Sons on Maracas Beach.

Bake and shark from Uncle Sam's, Maracas Bay© Simone De Silva-Gomes

‘Lookout’ stalls

There’s a lookout on the Lady Young Road and another on the North Coast Road en route to beaches at Maracas, Las Cuevas and Blanchisseuse. They’re places to stop the car to take in the stunning, panoramic views. The former overlooks the capital city, Port of Spain and the latter, the verdant coastline tumbling into the Caribbean Sea. Both boast a couple of large food stalls that offer sweet, savoury, salted and pickled snacks and treats to peckish travellers. I especially recommend trying the pineapple chow, salt prunes, red mango, tamarind (pronounced ‘tambran’) balls and sugar cake.

Trini Treats food stall at the North Coast Road lookout | H is for Home Edens food stall at the North Coast Road lookout | H is for Home

We pulled over, bought some snacks and took a few photos on our way to Las Cuevas.

Edens food stall at the North Coast Road lookout | H is for Home Edens food stall at the North Coast Road lookout | H is for Home

Debe food strip

Simone drove me to Débé – a town in the South of Trinidad – that’s famous for it’s Indian food stalls. Indian fast food is my all-time favourite – and there’s a huge choice for vegetarians like me!

Welcome to Debe sign, Trinidad | H is for Home

Strip of food stalls in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home Strip of food stalls in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home Strip of food stalls in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home

Sweet treats for sale in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home Sweet treats for sale in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home

Indian street food display cabinets in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home

Selection of street food we bought in Debe, Trinidad | H is for Home

The photo above is what we bought:

1. Baiganee (aubergine) | 2. Saheena (dasheen and split peas) | 3. Kachourie (channa and/or split peas)
4. Khurma (sugar-coated flour) | 5. Aloo (potato) pie | 6. Baiganee (aubergine)
7. Doubles | 8. Ginger ale | 9. Solo Apple J

Trinidad ponche de crème

Bottle of ponche de crème or punch a crema | H is for Home

Ponche de crème, sometimes called punch a crema, is an eggnog type drink – like the black cake I posted about recently – enjoyed in Trinidad & Tobago only at Christmas.

Removing the chalazae from the eggs using the jagged edge of an eggshell | H is for Home

It consists primarily of eggs, milk, rum and ground nutmeg. Although the eggs aren’t cooked, don’t worry about food poisoning, the rum content will put paid to any bugs. I would, however, recommend removing the chalazae (the white coily bits that hold the yolk in place) from the eggs. An easy way to do this is to use a jagged edge of broken egg shell.

Whisking evaporated milk into the ponche de crème | H is for Home

The proportions of ingredients used is personal preference – some prefer it sweeter, some milkier, others packing more of a punch. The generally accepted quantities are 8 eggs to 3 tins of evaporated milk to 1½ tins of condensed milk and 250ml/9 fl oz of rum. I’ve used dark rum, but it’s often made with super-strong puncheon rum.

Adding Caribbean dark rum to ponche de crème mixture | H is for Home

Once made, the ponche de crème should be kept in the fridge (in sterilised bottles). If you can, leave it for a few days before drinking – tipping the bottle up & down a few times during that time – so that the flavour can develop.

Grating nutmeg into the ponche de crème mixture | H is for Home

Serve over ice in a high ball glass – preferably whilst listening to some parang on your music system. It can keep for months in the fridge – but I promise you, it won’t last that long! If you fancy trying ponche de crème this Christmas, save the recipe to Pinterest.

Decanting ponche de crème into glass flip-top bottles | H is for Home

Ponche de crème, sometimes called punch a crema, is an eggnog type drink enjoyed in Trinidad & Tobago at Christmastime. #Christmas #alcohol #alcoholicbeverage #beverage #Christmas #Christmasdrink #ponchedecrème #punchacrema #recipe #rum #Trinidad #Trinidadcuisine

Here’s calypsonian, Lord Kitchener, singing a very famous song celebrating the festive libation.

 

Bottle of ponche de crème or punch a crema | H is for Home

Trinidad ponche de crème

Prep Time 15 minutes
Course Drinks
Cuisine Caribbean
Servings 16

Ingredients
  

  • 6 eggs chalazae removed (the white stringy bits)
  • zest of 1 lime peeled thickly
  • 600 g/21oz/1.5 cans condensed milk
  • 820 g /29oz/3 tins evaporated milk
  • 500 ml/17.5 fl oz rum
  • 1 tsp Angostura Bitters
  • 1 tsp ground/grated nutmeg

Instructions
 

  • In a large measuring jug (2.5 litre) or mixing bowl with a spout, whisk the eggs with the lime peel (using the peel cuts through the 'eggy' taste) until pale and aerated
  • Whilst still whisking, pour in the condensed milk
  • Continuing to whisk, pour in the evaporated milk
  • Stir in the rum and the bitters
  • Sprinkle ground/grated nutmeg and stir through
  • Remove the lime peel and decant the mixture into sterilised bottles and keep refrigerated (it will keep for months)
Serve over ice
Trinidad ponche de crème ingredients
Keyword alcohol, Christmas, ponche a crème, ponche de crème, punch a crema