Street Food Cravings
Nothing is better than heading out and getting some of your favourite street food. But what do you do when you're under quarantine? Make it yourself of course! A while a go, my sister decided to make her own homemade Trinidadian delicacy called saheena. For those of you unfortunate enough to not know what that is, it is a fried street food here in our country that is made with dasheen/ taro leaves and a mixture of split pea flour and white flour. It is normally served hot with channa and/ or chutney. In this blog, we document how my sister made the saheena!
The Process
First we cleaned the taro or dasheen bush leaves by washing them and cutting off the stems. Gloves were used as they can stain and cause itching or irritation to the skin. They were then left to soak until ready for the folding process.
Next the batter was prepared by mixing split pea flour, normal flour and adding water and other spices. It is important to not over salt this batter as it could be quite unbearable if not seasoned properly. You have to know also what you're going to pair it with also and compensate so that the combines flavours are balanced.
Hand mixing is best mixing!
The leaves were then spread out together to make somewhat large surface so that the batter could be spread atop it and the whole thing was then rolled much like sushi or cinnamon buns. And again, like cinnamon rolls, they were cut cross section wise into discs.
A suitably sized pot with oil was then heated to the frying temperature that you may use to fry frozen chips or fries with. The saheenas were then fried until golden brown. Crispy on the outside, lovely and tender on the inside.
Look at those beautiful colours! If you were there to smell the cacophony of smells that pervaded the room, you would not be able to help yourself! I definitely could not wait but these shots had to be taken!
A nice formation shot for display before rendering all that work to arrange it somewhat useless.
As you may have noticed by now, we weren't really following any strict recipes or measurements but if you do really want to try this beloved delicacy for yourself at home during this quarantine boredom season, then you can find a brilliant recipe HERE. If you do happen to try the recipe, feel free to let me know how it was to experience a part of Trinidadian culture. Thanks for reading, Cheers!
