Doubles

Ingredients

Bara dough

• 400 gplain flour
• 1.5 tspinstant yeast
• 1 tspsugar
• 1.5 tspsalt
• 1.5 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspground cumin (geera)
• ½ tspground black pepper
• 260 mlwarm water
• 1 litreneutral oil, for frying

Curried channa

• 400 gdried chickpeas, soaked overnight with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 3 tbspneutral oil
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 1onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbspTrinidadian curry powder
• 1 tspamchar masala
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1scotch bonnet, whole and unpierced
• 2 tbspgreen seasoning (chadon beni, thyme, garlic, blended)
• 2 tspsalt
• 700 mlwater

Toppings

• Tamarind chutney: 80 g tamarind pulp, 80 g brown sugar, ½ tsp roasted geera, simmered to a syrup
• Cucumber chutney: 1 cucumber grated with garlic, lime and chadon beni
• Mango kuchela or grated green mango pickle
• Pepper sauce, to taste

Directions

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, turmeric, cumin and pepper, add the warm water and knead 6–8 minutes to a soft, sticky, deep-yellow dough. Oil the bowl, cover and prove 1.5–2 hours until doubled and airy.
2. Boil the drained chickpeas in fresh water for 45–60 minutes until they crush easily; keep 400 ml of the cooking liquid.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot, fry the onion and garlic 5 minutes, then add the curry powder mixed to a slurry with 3 tbsp water and let it fry 2–3 minutes until it darkens, sputters and smells toasted rather than dusty.
4. Add the chickpeas, green seasoning, amchar masala, cumin, salt and the whole scotch bonnet, then the reserved liquid and water. Simmer uncovered 30–40 minutes.
5. Crush about a third of the chickpeas against the side of the pot so the gravy thickens to a loose, spoonable curry that clings. Lift out the scotch bonnet before it bursts.
6. Oil your hands and pinch off 8 balls of dough. Flatten each between wet palms into a thin disc about 12 cm across – bara are stretched, not rolled.
7. Fry in oil at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 seconds a side, pressing gently with a slotted spoon so they puff, then lift out while still pale gold and floppy. Bara must stay soft, never crisp.
8. Lay two bara overlapping on a square of paper, spoon the hot channa into the middle, top with tamarind, cucumber chutney, kuchela and pepper sauce, fold the paper over and eat immediately with your hands.

Technique

• Two bara, hence ‘doubles’ – the name is a plural because one is never enough. Ordering is a Trinidadian ritual: ‘slight pepper’, ‘plenty pepper’, or ‘with everything’.
• The curry powder must be fried in oil as a slurry before the chickpeas go in. Stirring dry powder into liquid leaves a raw, gritty taste that no amount of simmering fixes.
• Leave the scotch bonnet whole. It perfumes the pot without releasing the full heat, and the pepper sauce on top does the burning.

Substitutions

• Tinned chickpeas work at a pinch – drain, rinse and simmer 20 minutes in the seasoned gravy, crushing more of them to make up for the lost body.
• Madras curry powder plus ½ tsp extra ground cumin approximates Trinidadian curry powder, which is heavier on coriander and geera.

Variations

• Aloo pie or saheena sold from the same box, with the same chutneys.
• Doubles with a spoon of curried aloo or bodi (long beans) added alongside the channa.

History

Curried chickpeas between two fried baras; the Deen family of Princes Town is widely credited with creating and selling it from the 1930s.

Frequently asked questions

What is Doubles?

Doubles is a street food from Trinidad and Tobago: two barra flatbreads with curried chickpeas and chutneys. Curried chickpeas between two fried baras; the Deen family of Princes Town is widely credited with creating and selling it from the 1930s.

How long does Doubles take to make?

Doubles takes 40 min of preparation and 2 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings (8 doubles). It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Doubles?

Yes, within limits. Tinned chickpeas work at a pinch – drain, rinse and simmer 20 minutes in the seasoned gravy, crushing more of them to make up for the lost body. Madras curry powder plus ½ tsp extra ground cumin approximates Trinidadian curry powder, which is heavier on coriander and geera.

What is the most important thing to get right in Doubles?

Heat the oil in a heavy pot, fry the onion and garlic 5 minutes, then add the curry powder mixed to a slurry with 3 tbsp water and let it fry 2–3 minutes until it darkens, sputters and smells toasted rather than dusty.