Aloo pie

Ingredients

Dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1 tspinstant yeast
• 1 tspsugar
• 1 tspsalt
• 2 tbspoil
• 240 mlwarm water

Filling

• 700 gfloury potatoes, boiled and roughly crushed
• 1 tbspoil
• 4 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1 tspground cumin (geera), toasted
• 1 tspamchar masala
• ½ tspturmeric
• 2spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tbspchopped chadon beni (culantro) or coriander
• 1 tspsalt
• ½scotch bonnet, minced (optional)

To fry

• 700 mlsunflower oil

To serve

• tamarind sauce and pepper sauce

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, add the oil and warm water, and knead 8 minutes to a soft smooth dough. Cover and rest 30 minutes — this is a short rest for pliability, not a full prove.
2. Fry the garlic in the oil for 30 seconds, add the cumin, amchar masala and turmeric and let them bloom for another 30 seconds until fragrant.
3. Fold this into the crushed potato with the spring onion, chadon beni, salt and scotch bonnet. Crush, do not mash smooth — the filling wants texture, and a purée goes pasty inside the pie.
4. Cool the filling completely. Warm filling steams inside the dough and bursts it in the oil.
5. Divide the dough into 10 and roll each into a thin oval about 15 cm long. Put two heaped tablespoons of potato on one half, leaving a clear 1 cm border.
6. Wet the border, fold over and press firmly, then crimp with a fork. Any gap will let oil in and filling out.
7. Heat the oil to 175°C (350°F) and fry two or three at a time for 4–5 minutes, turning once, until deep gold and puffed. Spoon hot oil over the tops as they fry to help them balloon.
8. Drain on a rack. Split the top and spoon in tamarind and pepper sauce, which is how they are sold from Trinidad roadside stalls.

Technique

• Toast whole cumin and grind it yourself. Geera is the backbone of the filling and pre-ground powder tastes of nothing by comparison.
• The oil must be at temperature before the first pie goes in. Too cool and the dough drinks oil instead of puffing.
• Chadon beni is not coriander, though coriander is the usual substitute. It is far stronger, so use less if you find it.

Substitutions

• Half the amchar masala plus a squeeze of lime approximates the sourness if you cannot find it.
• The pies can be baked at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes, brushed with oil — a different, drier thing, but good.

Variations

• Aloo pie filled with channa (chickpeas) as well as potato.
• Saheena and baiganee, the same stall’s other fried snacks, made with dasheen leaf and aubergine.

History

Fried pastry stuffed with spiced potato, another legacy of Indian indenture, eaten with pepper sauce and chutney.

Frequently asked questions

What is Aloo pie?

Aloo pie is a snack from Trinidad and Tobago: fried dough pockets stuffed with spiced potato. Fried pastry stuffed with spiced potato, another legacy of Indian indenture, eaten with pepper sauce and chutney.

How long does Aloo pie take to make?

Aloo pie takes 40 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 10 pies. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Aloo pie?

Yes, within limits. Half the amchar masala plus a squeeze of lime approximates the sourness if you cannot find it. The pies can be baked at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes, brushed with oil — a different, drier thing, but good.

What is the most important thing to get right in Aloo pie?

Fold this into the crushed potato with the spring onion, chadon beni, salt and scotch bonnet. Crush, do not mash smooth — the filling wants texture, and a purée goes pasty inside the pie.