Mauritian Gâteau Piment (Yellow Split Pea Fritter)

Today, March 12, marks the 52nd anniversary of Mauritius’ accession to independence. In honour of this occasion, I am presenting a Mauritian favourite: gâteau piment (gato pima in Mauritian creole) - yellow split pea fritter. The gâteau piment is a popular street food in Mauritius. It is a crunchy fritter consisting of ground yellow split peas, chilies, spices, and herbs. This type of fritter is Indian in origin. It bears marked similarities to the Middle Eastern falafel which is made with chickpeas. In the neighbouring Reunion Island, there is a similar type of fritter called bonbon piment which is made with broad beans.

Concerning the recipe for gâteau piment, there are different variations. Typical common ingredients include yellow split peas, cumin, salt, pepper, chilies, onions, cilantro, and green onions. In addition to these aforementioned ingredients, my recipe includes coriander seeds, ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. I decided to add the sesame oil to dial up the umami factor. I use pure toasted sesame oil which has quite a potent taste. So, a little goes a long way.

I wanted my gâteau piment to have a blissfully crispy crust with a soft, light, and moist inner crumb, with plenty of texture. Thus, instead of grinding the yellow split peas into a uniform, smooth paste, I kept some coarse bits of yellow split peas in the mixture. Also, the herbs and chilies were chopped finely and incorporated into the mixture, instead of being blitzed together with the rest of the ingredients. My resulting mixture was quite wet from the rehydrated yellow split peas. Thus, I am referring it as a batter instead of a dough.

While there are some proponents of the use of flour, tapioca flour, or cornstarch to act as binding agent, I preferred not to use any because my batter had already plenty of starch from the yellow split peas. Also, I did not want my fritters to end up doughy and pasty from the addition of additional starch. To prevent my dough balls from disintegrating in the frying oil, I made sure to refrigerate my batter for at least two hours. In addition, to ensure that my fritters would be light and fluffy, I kept the manipulation of the batter to a minimum. Thus, instead of shaping the batter into balls prior to refrigeration, I preferred to scoop out mounds of the chilled batter and drop them directly in the hot frying oil.

As for the method of frying, instead of deep-frying the fritters, I chose to shallow-fry them in small batches. Since the fritters are at their very best when freshly fried and still warm, I prefer to fry only the required amount of fritters and refrigerate the rest of the batter for another meal. The batter keeps well in the refrigerator for a couple of days. For longer storage, you have two freezing options. The first option is to store the extra batter in small freezer bags, freeze them, and defrost them prior to use. The second option is to scoop out mounds of batter onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, freeze them on the sheet, store the frozen mounds in a freezer bag in the freezer, and fry them directly from their frozen state when needed.

Another method of cooking is to bake them. You can place them on a heavily greased parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the tops with oil or butter, and bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden and crispy. However, the results will not be exactly like the fried version. They may be paler in colour, flatter (due to a little spreading during baking), and may not be as moist inside as the fried counterpart on account of the longer cook time required to crisp up the outer crust.

For maximum enjoyment, the gâteau piment should be eaten when freshly cooked and still warm. It is wonderful eaten on its own. It can serve as a quick tasty meal with a few fritters tucked inside freshly baked crusty bread or warm flatbread.

Mauritian gâteau piment (Yellow Split Pea Fritter)

Makes about 45

Ingredients

500 g yellow split peas

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1-inch piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 cup finely chopped green onions

1 cup finely chopped cilantro

4 small green chilies, finely chopped

2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon pure toasted sesame oil

Vegetable oil, for frying

Method

The night before, place the yellow split peas in a large bowl. Rinse and drain. Pour enough water to cover the yellow split peas completely, with an extra inch of water covering them. Soak overnight.

The next day, drain the yellow split peas. Rinse and drain well in a colander.

In a food processor, place a third of the yellow split peas with the onion, garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds. Blitz the contents until finely ground. Transfer into a large bowl. In the food processor, add the rest of the yellow split peas and grind coarsely. Transfer into the bowl containing the yellow split pea-spice mixture.

Add the chopped green onions, cilantro, and chilies. Add the salt, pepper, and sesame oil. Mix well. Refrigerate the batter for at least two hours.

In a dry wok or frying pan, add enough oil to reach a one-inch depth. Heat oil to 180°C.

Using a teaspoon, scoop out mounds of batter and drop carefully into the hot frying oil. Do not overcrowd. Leave the mounds undisturbed until they have formed a crispy crust on their bottoms. Turn them. When they are uniformly cooked, using a spider or slotted spoon, take them out of the oil and place them on a paper towel-lined plate.

If frying another batch, repeat above. Otherwise, refrigerate or freeze the rest of the batter.

Enjoy!

I would love your feedback. If you try this recipe, please leave a comment in the Comments Section below or reach out to me on Instagram: @thelittlekatora.