
An aloo pie is a
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
fast food dish common in
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
and is of
Indo-Trinidadian origin.
An aloo pie is a pastry filled with seasoned mashed potatoes and then fried. It is therefore similar to
samosas, but at 10-15 cm in length it is significantly larger, and it does not have a triangular basic shape, but resembles a
calzone. The dough consists of flour, water, salt, baking powder and if necessary some saffron for the color. Seasonings and ingredients used in the mashed potatoes include salt, pepper, onion, cumin, and garlic, and occasionally green seasoning and
long coriander (chadon beni). As a rule, the dumplings are cut open before serving and garnished with a curry based on chickpeas or green peas. It is seasoned with a chutney (usually based on
tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a Legume, leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic taxon, monotypic, meaning that it contains only this spe ...
or
mango
A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...
), chadon beni and a spicy pepper sauce.
Aloo is a
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
word meaning potato. Trinidad was a British colony from 1797 to 1962, so English is spoken there. After the abolition of slavery in Trinidad, numerous Indians were recruited from 1845 as cheap labor for the plantations, who in turn introduced curries that were often vegetarian and sometimes contained potatoes. The pies are sold in snack bars, but also in bakeries and cafeterias in Trinidad. On the street, aloo pies are often sold by vendors who also sell
doubles, since both dishes are fried and can therefore be made with the same appliance.
References
{{reflist
Potato dishes
Savoury pies
Trinidad and Tobago cuisine
Indo-Caribbean cuisine