Filhoses de Abóbora (Pumpkin Christmas Fritters)
- Prep
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 h 25 min
- pieces
- 24
- Calories
- 140 kcal
- Difficulty
- Easy
Spoon-dropped pumpkin filhoses are one of the best-loved Christmas fritters in the Beira Baixa, the Ribatejo, the Alentejo, Estremadura and the Algarve hills. Unlike the classic filhoses stretched by hand, whose firmer dough is opened into a thin disc, these are made from a soft yeasted batter dropped into the oil from a spoon.
The result is a fritter crisp at the edges and soft and spongy inside, with the natural scent of pumpkin, orange zest and brandy.
Recipe
Filhoses de Abóbora
The classic pumpkin filhoses of the Beira Baixa, Ribatejo, Alentejo and Algarve: a yeasted batter rich in pumpkin purée, orange juice, eggs and brandy, fried by the spoonful so it's crisp outside and soft and orange inside.
Ingredients
For the yeasted pumpkin batter
For frying and coating
Method
Cooking and draining the pumpkin
- 1Boil the cubed pumpkin in water with the pinch of salt for 15 minutes until soft. Drain it in a sieve (or a clean cloth) for at least 2 hours, squeezing well: the drier the pumpkin, the fluffier the filhoses.
- 2Mash the drained pumpkin to a smooth purée with a fork or food mill and let it cool to warm.
Beating and rising the batter
- 3Dissolve the yeast in the warm orange juice with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and wait 10 minutes until foamy.
- 4In a large bowl (or clay bowl), beat the warm pumpkin purée with the eggs, the rest of the sugar, the orange zest and the brandy.
- 5Add the activated yeast and work in the flour gradually, beating hard with a wooden spoon or your hand for 8 minutes until you have a soft, elastic batter (thicker than pancake batter, but falling from the spoon).
- 6Cover the bowl with cling film and a wool cloth and let it rise somewhere warm for 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled and full of air bubbles.
Frying by the spoonful and coating
- 7Heat plenty of oil to 165 to 170 °C (350 °F). Dip two tablespoons in the hot oil, take a spoonful of risen batter (without stirring the bowl, so you don't lose the gas from the rise) and slide it into the pan, flattening the top slightly with the back of the spoon.
- 8Fry 3 to 4 filhoses at a time for 2 to 3 minutes per side until puffed and well browned. Drain on paper towels and roll them in the cinnamon sugar while still hot.
Not greasy
Drain the pumpkin well, ideally overnight in the fridge: cooked pumpkin releases a lot of water, and wet pumpkin means double the flour and heavy filhoses.
Keep the oil at 165 to 170 °C (350 °F). Hotter, they burn outside and stay raw in the middle; cooler, they soak up fat. Dip the spoon in the hot oil before each portion so the batter slides off cleanly, and keep the spoonfuls small so they cook through in 2 minutes per side.
Once cool on a rack, keep them in a deep bowl covered with a clean cotton cloth, never closed in plastic while warm.
