Doubles
Doubles Say it: DUH-bulz
Doubles is Trinidad and Tobago's most beloved street breakfast: two soft, turmeric-golden fried baras sandwiched around a scoop of curried chickpeas, then dressed with tamarind sauce, pepper sauce and fresh chadon beni. Vendors across Port of Spain, Princes Town and San Fernando sell them from dawn, wrapped in paper, eaten on the spot. The bara is pillowy and slightly chewy, the channa warmly spiced and thick, the sauces sweet-sour and hot. Cheap, fast and completely satisfying, it is the island's favourite hand-held breakfast.
Doubles
Doubles
Pronounced DUH-bulz
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 1 hr 25 min
- Level
- Medium
Also nut-free and egg-free.
Allergens: contains gluten. Check labels on packaged ingredients.
Ingredients
Amounts are scaled. Cooking times and pan sizes stay the same.
For the bara (fried flatbreads)
For the channa (curried chickpeas)
For the tamarind sauce and to serve
Method
Rinse the chickpeas and soak them overnight in a large bowl of cold water, 8 to 12 hours, then drain well. If you are using canned chickpeas instead, skip the soak and drain 3 cups (500 g) cooked chickpeas.
Make the dough. whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, turmeric and cumin in a large bowl. Add the oil and 1 cup (240 ml) of the warm water, then mix to a soft, slightly tacky dough, adding the remaining water a spoonful at a time if it feels dry. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth, cover, and leave in a warm spot for 1 to 1½ hours, until puffy and roughly doubled.
Meanwhile, boil the drained chickpeas in the 4 cups (960 ml) water until completely tender and easily crushed between your fingers, 45 to 60 minutes. Scoop out and keep 1 cup (240 ml) of the cooking liquid, then drain the rest.
Heat the 3 tbsp oil in a wide pot over medium heat and cook the onion for 4 to 5 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic and hot pepper and stir for 30 seconds, then add the curry powder, cumin and turmeric with a splash of water and stir constantly for 1 to 2 minutes, until the mixture darkens and smells toasty.
Tip in the chickpeas and stir for a minute to coat them in the curry, then add the reserved cooking liquid and the salt. Simmer uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring and crushing a few chickpeas against the pot, until thick enough to scoop and hold its shape. Stir in the chadon beni and keep warm.
For the tamarind sauce, pour the hot water over the tamarind pulp, leave for 10 minutes, then mash and strain out the seeds and fibre. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, garlic and hot pepper, and taste: it should be sweet, sour and a little salty.
Heat the frying oil in a deep heavy pot to 350°F (175°C) — a scrap of dough should sizzle and rise at once. Oil your hands and a work surface, pinch off golf-ball pieces of dough (about 50 g), and pat each into a round 4 to 5 inches (10–12 cm) across and about ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick.
Fry the baras one or two at a time for 30 to 40 seconds per side, until they puff, float and turn pale golden with a few darker spots — they should stay soft and foldable, not crisp. Drain on a rack and stack them loosely under a clean towel.
To assemble, lay one bara on a piece of paper, spoon over 2 to 3 tbsp of hot channa, and press a second bara on top. Drizzle with tamarind sauce and extra pepper sauce, scatter with chadon beni, add a few cucumber slices, fold the paper around it and eat straight away.
Regional variants
Many vendors fold diced potato into the channa for a heartier 'channa and aloo' doubles, and a 'single' — one bara piled with channa — is the lighter option. Extra scotch bonnet pepper sauce or a few more cucumber slices are the usual personal upgrades.
Cook's notes
- Frying the curry powder with the aromatics until it darkens and smells toasty — Trinis call it 'bunning the curry' — is what gives doubles their deep flavour, so do not rush that step.
- The dough should be softer and stickier than bread dough; oil your hands and the work surface instead of adding lots of flour, or the baras will turn tough.
- Keep the fried baras covered with a towel as they come out of the oil so they stay soft, and fry them as close to serving time as you can.
Serve with
Eaten by hand as breakfast or lunch, with cold water, coconut water or a soft drink.
Make ahead and storage
The channa and tamarind sauce keep 3 days refrigerated and reheat well with a splash of water; the dough can be mixed and rested overnight in the fridge, then brought back to room temperature. Fry the baras just before serving, as they stale quickly.
