Two soft, turmeric-gold fried breads (bara) folded around curried chickpeas (channa), finished with tamarind sauce and pepper. A much-loved Trinidad street breakfast.
Doubles are sold from roadside stalls and the backs of cars all over Trinidad, mostly in the morning, wrapped in paper and eaten standing up. The name is usually explained as coming from the two pieces of bara used for each one.
At home they take some planning: the bara dough needs time to rise, and the channa is best when it has simmered long enough to turn soft and saucy, with some chickpeas crushed into the gravy. Neither part is difficult, though. The trick with bara is a very soft, sticky dough and oiled hands.
Ask for doubles “slight” for a little pepper or “heavy” for a lot. At home, you control the sauces: tamarind, cucumber chutney, mango kuchela and pepper sauce are all traditional.
The recipe
Trinidad Doubles
Prep
30 min
Cook
45 min
Rising
1 hr 30 min
Total
2 hr 45 min
Serves
6
Makes
About 12 doubles (24 bara)
Times and quantities are our best estimates. This recipe is still being kitchen-tested, so trust your eyes and taste as you go.
Servings
Ingredient amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pot size may need adjusting too.
Ingredients
Tick items off as you gather them.
For the bara
For the channa
To serve
Method
Make the bara dough
Mix the flour, yeast, turmeric, cumin, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add the water a little at a time, mixing, until you have a very soft, sticky dough. You may not need all the water.
Knead for 2 minutes in the bowl, rub the top with oil, cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 to 1½ hours, until doubled.
Cook the channa
Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat and cook the onion and garlic until soft, about 3 minutes.
Mix the curry powder and cumin with 3 tbsp water to make a paste. Add it to the pot and stir for 1 to 2 minutes until it darkens slightly and smells toasty (this is called burning the curry). Don't let it scorch.
Add the chickpeas and green seasoning and stir to coat. Pour in the water, add the salt and bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, pressing some of the chickpeas against the side of the pot as they soften. The channa should be loose and saucy, not dry; add water if needed. Stir in the chadon beni.
Fry the bara
Heat about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of oil in a deep pan to 350°F (175°C).
Oil your hands and a work surface. Pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a golf ball and pat it into a thin round about 4 inches (10 cm) across.
Slide it into the oil and fry for 15 to 20 seconds a side, until puffed and pale gold. Bara should stay soft, not crisp. Drain on paper towels and repeat.
Put them together
Overlap two bara, spoon channa over the middle, add sauces and pepper to taste, and fold. Eat straight away.
Serve it with
Tamarind sauce, cucumber chutney and mango kuchela
Pepper sauce, from slight to heavy
Substitutions
Dried chickpeas: soak 1 cup (200 g) overnight and boil until very soft before adding to the curry.
Cumin: some cooks toast whole geera and grind it for a deeper flavour.
Storing and reheating
Bara are best fresh. Cooled bara can be wrapped and refrigerated for a day, then warmed briefly in a covered pan.
Channa keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days and reheats well with a splash of water.
Cook's notes
If the dough is too firm, the bara will be tough. Aim for a dough that is hard to handle without oil on your hands.
Keep the oil temperature steady; too hot and the bara brown before they puff.
