Trinbago Recipes

Cook Trinbago, one pot at a time

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New to Trinbago Cooking? Start Right Here.

Welcome. Trinidad and Tobago food can look complicated at first, but most of it rests on a handful of ingredients and techniques. Learn those, cook five recipes, and the rest of this site will open up.

Hands chopping fresh green herbs with a chef's knife

Step one

Five recipes to start with

Cook them in this order. Each one teaches something the next one uses.

Dhalpuri roti with curry chicken, curried potato and channa

Curry and Roti

Trinidad Curry Chicken

Chicken marinated in green seasoning, cooked in "burnt" curry until the sauce is thick and dark. Made for roti, rice or dhal.

  • 2 hr 10 min est.
  • Medium
A plate of chicken pelau with bone-in chicken and pigeon peas, served with coleslaw, sliced avocado and fried ripe plantain

Rice and One-Pot Meals

Trinidad Pelau

Chicken, rice and pigeon peas cooked together in one pot after a bath in dark caramelised sugar. The Sunday-lime, beach-day, feed-everybody dish.

  • 1 hr 40 min est.
  • Medium
Doubles: two soft yellow bara topped with curried channa, served on paper

Street Food

Trinidad Doubles

Two soft, turmeric-gold fried breads (bara) folded around curried chickpeas (channa), finished with tamarind sauce and pepper. A much-loved Trinidad street breakfast.

  • 2 hr 45 min est.
  • Involved

Step two

The flavours of Trinbago, in brief

  • Fresh and herbalGreen seasoning and chadon beni give a bright, grassy base to almost everything.
  • Toasty spiceCurry powder and geera (cumin) are cooked in oil until dark, for depth rather than rawness.
  • HeatScotch bonnet peppers, used whole in the pot for fragrance or chopped for real fire.
  • Sweet and sourBrowned sugar in pelau and stews; tamarind and mango in sauces and chutneys.
  • Coconut richnessCoconut milk in pelau, callaloo and curries; grated coconut in bakes and sweets.

Step three

Pantry staples worth knowing

  • Green seasoningThe blended herb paste behind most savoury dishes. Make a jar first.
  • Trinidad-style curry powderHeavy on turmeric, coriander and cumin, and made to be burnt in oil. Look for local brands in Caribbean shops.
  • Geera (cumin)Used whole, ground, or roasted and ground until dark.
  • Pepper sauceBlended hot peppers with vinegar or lime, often mustard. Every table has one.
  • TamarindPressed pulp for tamarind sauce.
  • Pigeon peas, chickpeas and split peasFor pelau, doubles, dhal and corn soup.

More detail in Essential Trinidadian seasonings and Pantry essentials.

Yellow and green Scotch bonnet peppers on a bed of fresh thyme
Scotch bonnet peppers and fresh thyme.

Step four

Four techniques that matter

  1. Season aheadRub meat and fish with green seasoning and leave it at least 30 minutes, ideally overnight.
  2. Burn the curryFry curry powder as a paste in hot oil until it darkens before the meat goes in.
  3. Brown the sugarFor pelau and stews, cook sugar in oil until nearly black-brown. Stay at the stove.
  4. Use a whole pepperSimmer a Scotch bonnet whole for fragrance and lift it out before serving.

Step five

Your beginner’s shopping list

Enough for all five starter recipes, with leftovers.

  • Parboiled rice
  • Canned pigeon peas
  • Canned chickpeas
  • Yellow split peas
  • Trinidad-style curry powder
  • Ground geera (cumin)
  • Ground turmeric
  • Chadon beni or cilantro
  • Chives or spring onions
  • Fresh thyme
  • Garlic and onions
  • Scotch bonnet peppers
  • Coconut milk
  • Brown sugar
  • Evaporated milk
  • Macaroni
  • Sharp cheddar
  • All-purpose flour
  • Instant yeast
  • Bone-in chicken
A roadside fruit and vegetable stall in south Trinidad with coconuts, pineapples and green fig
A roadside fruit and vegetable stall in south Trinidad.

Easy wins

Easy recipes

Short ingredient lists and no special equipment.

All easy recipes

Saltfish buljol with tomato and onion on a decorated plate

Breakfast and Bakes

Saltfish Buljol

Flaked salt cod tossed with tomato, onion, sweet pepper, hot pepper and olive oil. A no-cook breakfast filling for bake.

  • 35 min est.
  • Easy
A glass of deep red hibiscus (sorrel) drink on a set table

Drinks

Sorrel

A deep-red, spiced hibiscus drink brewed with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. The taste of a Trinbago Christmas.

  • 8 hr 30 min est.
  • Easy

Weeknights

Quick meals and one-pot dishes

One pot, one meal, and less washing up.

All one-pot meals

A plate of chicken pelau with bone-in chicken and pigeon peas, served with coleslaw, sliced avocado and fried ripe plantain

Rice and One-Pot Meals

Trinidad Pelau

Chicken, rice and pigeon peas cooked together in one pot after a bath in dark caramelised sugar. The Sunday-lime, beach-day, feed-everybody dish.

  • 1 hr 40 min est.
  • Medium
Dhalpuri roti with curry chicken, curried potato and channa

Curry and Roti

Trinidad Curry Chicken

Chicken marinated in green seasoning, cooked in "burnt" curry until the sauce is thick and dark. Made for roti, rice or dhal.

  • 2 hr 10 min est.
  • Medium

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