Soft Trinidad Aloo Pie Recipe: Tasty Fried Potato Stuffed Dough

Aloo pies are long, deep-fried dough pies that are stuffed with seasoned potatoes (aloo). The seasonings used here include cumin (geera) powder and fresh Caribbean green seasoning made with chadon beni (culantro), garlic, and pepper.

Aloo pies are popular street food and are usually served with well seasoned channa (chickpeas) or sauces like tamarind and mango. The origins of Trinidad aloo pies are from India’s aloo kachori or aloo ki kachori.

This post contains affiliate links.

Aloo pie ingredients

Dough: I use all purpose flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and unsalted butter.

Potato filling: I use potatoes (like Russet potatoes), onion, garlic, geera or cumin powder, Caribbean green seasoning, salt, pepper and unsalted butter.

Cumin gives a wonderful, dominant, smoky flavor that is a hallmark of East Indian cuisine. And, the green seasoning adds that fresh, herbaceous Trini flare!

The seasoning is usually made with chadon beni (culantro), garlic, pepper, and other herbs like chives and cilantro. You can use my green seasoning recipe to make your own or pick up a bottle from Amazon.

How to make aloo pie

1. Cook the potatoes

Wash the potatoes thoroughly and cut them in half. Add to a pot of water on medium heat and leave to boil until the potatoes are soft. This can take about 30 – 40 minutes. Once soft all the way through, set aside to cool.

Alternatively, you can cook the potatoes in the microwave for about 8 – 10 minutes.

2. Knead the dough

In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together. Rub the butter into the mixture until fully incorporated.

Next, add water a little at a time and knead to form a soft, smooth dough. I used 1. 5 cups of water here to bring everything together. Cover and leave to rise for 30 minutes.

3. Make the stuffing

Using a blender, food processor, or the fine side of a grater, grind the onion, garlic, pepper, and fresh herbs (or Caribbean green seasoning) together. You can make the seasoning a little chunky (like below) or smoother – the choice is yours.

Peel the cooked potatoes, mash them and add the ground seasonings, cumin or geera powder, salt, and butter. Mix thoroughly, taste test and adjust the flavor to your liking with more salt, pepper, etc.

4. Stuff the dough

Punch down the dough and divide it into 2-inch balls. Flatten one dough ball and add flour to one side. The flour will make sure the filling spreads out and doesn’t stick onto or tear the dough.

Add a spoonful of the seasoned potatoes. Pinch the edges of the flattened dough together to seal the stuffing inside the dough. You don’t want to roll the edges together as this will create lines in the aloo pie when frying (which I learned the hard way).

Dust flour on the stuffed dough and set aside. Repeat for all the other dough balls, then cover and allow them to rest for 15 minutes.

5. Fry the aloo pies

Place a large pot on medium heat. Add at least three to four inches of oil for deep frying. Allow the oil to heat up – you want it nice and hot.

Rub your hands with oil. Take one of the stuffed dough balls and flatten it between your hands from your fingers to your palm. Gently push the filling around to ensure even distribution in the pie. Some use flour and roll the pies out with a rolling pin. But, excess flour on the pies will end up in the hot oil and eventually burn. If you want to use the oil on another day, skip the flour and use oil instead to flatten the pies.

Once the oil is nice and hot, add a couple flattened aloo pies and leave to cook for 3 – 5 minutes, then flip over and fry for another 3 – 5 minutes. The pies should puff up and float to the top but if they brown too quickly, lower the heat.

Once the dough is cooked, remove from the heat and store place in a sealable container with grease paper or napkins. Cover the container to trap the heat and steam. This will ensure your pies are soft and fluffy. If you do not cover them, the aloo pies will remain crispy.

Serve the pies when hot with channa (chickpeas) or your favorite sauces like tamarind, mango and more.

Aloo pie calories

With this recipe, one aloo pie before frying has about 200 calories. Deep frying can add up at least 75% more calories to food. So the calories of a fried aloo pie can be upward of 350 calories without any condiments.

Aloo pie recipe