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Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters)
A spiced split pea and flour batter packed with shredded young dasheen or spinach leaves, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil and fried golden, served with green mango chutney.
Trinidadian (Indo-Trinidadian) · medium · serves 6
prep 25 min · cook 25 min · plus 1 h 30 min hands-off time
~321 cal · 11g protein · 42g carbs · 13g fat · 10g fiber · 8g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Saheena is an Indo-Trinidadian fritter made from young () leaves and a dough of ground split peas, seasoned with turmeric, roasted cumin (geera) and garlic. The word is said to come from the Bihari languages brought by indentured labourers from India after 1845, and to mean something delicious or savoury. Those workers adapted the pakoras of home to the leaves and pulses of the Caribbean, and many cooks see saheena as a cousin of palak pakora.
It comes two ways. For weddings, prayers and Divali, cooks make rolled saheena: whole leaves spread with split pea paste, rolled up like a Swiss roll, steamed, sliced and fried. On the street and at home, the quicker cut-up or chip-up saheena mixes the shredded leaves straight into the batter, which is dropped by the spoonful into hot oil.
Saheena is served hot as an appetizer or with drinks, split open and filled with chutney, green mango, or kuchela, or pepper sauce. Where leaves are hard to find, spinach works well.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian, vegan and dairy-, nut-, egg- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 1 bunch (about 200 g) young () leaves or spinach, dasheen leaves must be cooked through; they irritate the throat raw
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) yellow split pea flour (split peas powder)
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 1/2 tsp roasted ground cumin (geera)
- 1/4 tsp amchar masala, optional
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 tsp salt
- about 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) water
- 3 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying
- 1 green (unripe) mango, peeled and chopped (for the chutney)
- 6 chadon beni (culantro) or cilantro leaves (for the chutney)
- 1/2 hot pepper (for the chutney), Scotch bonnet or pimento pepper
- 2 cloves garlic (for the chutney)
- 1/2 tsp salt (for the chutney)
Instructions
- 1Wash the leaves, cut out any thick stems, then roll them into bundles and slice very thinly. Put them in a sieve and pour boiling water over them to wilt them. Drain and squeeze out the water.✎ Chef’s noteIf you use dasheen leaves, wear gloves to handle them raw and make sure the fritters are fried right through.
- 2In a large bowl mix the split pea flour, flour, baking powder, yeast, turmeric, geera, amchar masala if using, garlic and salt. Add the leaves, then stir in the water a little at a time to make a thick, sticky batter that holds its shape on a spoon.
- 3Cover the bowl and leave it in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, until the batter is puffy.
- 4Meanwhile make the chutney: blend the mango, chadon beni, hot pepper, garlic, salt and 1/2 cup water to a coarse paste. Taste and add a pinch of sugar if the mango is very sour.
- 5Heat the oil in a deep pot to about 175C (350F). Using two spoons, drop in rough spoonfuls of batter, a few at a time, and fry for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until deep golden and cooked through. Drain on paper.
- 6Serve hot, split open and spooned with chutney.
Indo-Trinidadian tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Port of Spain. The capital eats two dishes it did not create. Doubles was made in Princes Town in 1936 by Emamool Deen and his wife Raheeman Rasulan Deen and spread north from there; bake and shark belongs to Maracas Bay, thirty kilometres over the mountains. Port of Spain adopted both so completely that most visitors assume otherwise.
🗺️
Trinidad & Tobago. Doubles began in Princes Town, not Port of Spain, and are two soft fried bara breads folded around curried channa with tamarind, cucumber and pepper sauce added to order. The Indian layer in Trinidad arrived with indentured labourers after 1845, the same history that produced Indo-Fijian cooking on the other side of the world.
🌍
North America. Almost every regional cooking here records who arrived and on what terms. Enslaved West Africans brought rice, okra, black-eyed peas and the techniques behind Lowcountry and Creole food; Chinese railway labour and later Italian, Jewish, Mexican and Vietnamese arrivals built the way the cities eat; and Indigenous foodways sit underneath all of it.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Trinidad & Tobago
DoublesTwo soft turmeric flatbreads folded around curried chickpeas, tamarind, and pepper sauce, Trinidad’s street-corner breakfast.
PelauA one-pot of caramel-browned chicken, rice, and pigeon peas cooked in coconut milk.
Bake and SharkCrisp fried flatbread split and stuffed with seasoned fried fish and a riot of sauces and salads, a Maracas beach classic.
Browse all Trinidad & Tobago recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Blender.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
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Cuisine
Diet
Frequently asked questions
What is Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters)?
A spiced split pea and flour batter packed with shredded young dasheen or spinach leaves, dropped by the spoonful into hot oil and fried golden, served with green mango chutney.
Where does Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) come from?
Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) is a Trinidadian (Indo-Trinidadian) dish from Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
Can Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Saheena (Trinidadian Split Pea and Dasheen Leaf Fritters) take to make?
About 2 h 20 min in all: 25 minutes prep and 25 minutes cooking, plus 1 h 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 6.
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