Trinidad Doubles

An East Indian influenced street-food, made with 2 baras (fried flat bread), and topped with cooked channa and other delicious condiments.

Trinidad Doubles: consists of 2 baras, topped with channa or chick peas, and a choice of many condiments

Doubles? Not familiar with it? Well, it’s one of the most popular street foods in Trinidad, heavily influenced by our East Indian ancestors. It is said to have originated in Princes Town, Trinidad, where the vendor sold one of the baras or “fried flatbreads” which was served with cooked channa or chickpeas. After some time, customers would come to him and ask for 2 baras or for him to “ double-up” on the bara, which was later shortened as a “doubles.” Thus the doubles was born, meaning cooked channa or chickpea, sandwiched between 2 baras. Today the doubles remain the same in concept, however, there are so many more condiments to it. You can have grated cucumbers, bhandania/chadon beni sauce or chutney, roasted hot pepper, tamarind chutney or “sweet” sauce, roasted coconut chutney and even a curried or stewed meat accompaniment.

Honestly, I am not a doubles fan. The only way I eat doubles is if it’s homemade. Growing up, my mom would always make homemade bara and curried channa, especially on Divali morning. The taste of the homemade version is very different from the store-bought in a good way. My mom created her own recipe from her experiences with her sister and her husband who were doubles vendors. She shared stories of how they would knead the dough the night before and wake up at 3 am in the morning to fry the bara. Her sister’s husband would sell his doubles, on a bicycle that had a storage area attached to the front to store the baras and all the fixings.

Let’s fast-track to the times of now. After having my kids, my mom started making doubles more frequently since they loved it. And now, during the Covid-19 pandemic, a situation arose whereby all food sales were ceased. As such, people missed having their weekly dose of doubles so much, that they ventured into making their own. It was amazing seeing social media flooded with so many posts of homemade doubles being made. I loved it!! So here I am sharing my mom’s recipe for her bara and channa. Hope you all enjoy!

Oh and by the way, we did a Facebook live through Xtra Foods Supermarket’s Facebook page, where we showed exactly how to make the bara from start to finish. You can check it out below.

About Trinidad doubles:

One“doubles” is made up of 2 baras.
The bara dough is kneaded much softer than Trinidad roti or bread. So don’t be alarmed if it looks too soft and sticky. The oil that we knead into it at the end helps with the stickiness.
The bara dough needs to rest for at least 1 hour. You can leave it for longer and it will still give you a perfectly soft bara. BUT, don’t use it for less than the hour; this would lead to a disastrously tough bara.
You can make your dough balls any size you want. We used 1 1/2 inch to make them similar to doubles vendors’, but you can make them smaller.
The channa or chick peas/garbanzo beans for doubles is usually prepared by boiling it with everything, no traditional currying. It’s not the same as curried channa. But when we make doubles at home, we prefer curried channa instead of the authentic doubles channa. Our method incorporates sauteing aromatics and curry powder before allowing everything else to boil. If you want the authentic method, then check out Reshmi of Taste of Trinbago on youtube. She has an excellent method for this channa.
There are numerous condiments to be added on the channa, especially since us Trinis (Trinidadians) like things hot and spicy. Some of them are tamarind chutney or sweet sauce, coconut chutney, chadon beni/bhandania sauce or chutney, raw mango or pommcythere chutney, roasted hot peppers and grated cucumber.
A gourmet doubles also surfaced a couple years ago which includes some sort of cooked meat added to it, such as curried chicken/ duck/ shrimp, stewed chicken and even some exotic wild meats such as deer or agouti.

Yield: 16-20 baras; 10 doubles depending on the size

Ingredients:

5 cups flour

1 pack yeast

2-2 1/4 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon tumeric

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoon oil

Oil for frying and making the bara

1 teaspoon shortening

Curried Channa/ ChickPea:

1 pound dried channa, about 454g

1 tablespoon baking powder

4 tablespoons minced bhandania or green seasoning

1 medium onion, diced

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoon curry powder

5 methee/fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon whole geera/cumin

2 tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon roasted ground geera/cumin

Water

Salt to taste

Condiments:

Grated, deseeded cucumbers

Tamarind Sweet sauce or chutney- get the recipe here.

Roasted Coconut chutney- get the recipe here.

Raw Mango Chutney- get the recipe here.

Bhandania/Chadon Beni Sauce- get the recipe here.

Roasted Pepper Choka- get the recipe here.

Method

Add the flour, tumeric, salt, baking powder, sugar and yeast to a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle, add half of the water and swirl in the flour. Add more water and continue swirling until all the flour has been incorporated. The dough should be very soft. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil and continue kneading for about 2 minutes. Leave to rest for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile make the curried channa:
- Soak the channa overnight with water (about 4 inches above the channa). Drain the channa and add the channa to a pot. Cover with water (about 2 inches above) and add 1 tablespoon baking powder. Bring to a rolling boil and reduce to a simmer and continue boiling for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, take a few grains of the channa and press it. If it splits into 2, then it's ready to be strained. If it doesn't, then let it boil some more until that happens. Strain, rinse and set aside.
- Place a pot on medium high heat, and add 2 tablespoon oil. Add the methee seeds and allow to darken slightly- do not let it get black! Otherwise you will have to discard the oil and start over. Add the whole geera seeds. They will start to “pop.” When the popping sound stops, add the onion, garlic and seasoning. Allow to fry for a few minutes until the onion becomes translucent. Add the curry powder with 2 tablespoons water. Keep stirring until the water has disappeared and the curry starts looking grainy. Add the channa and stir to combine. Cover the channa with water (1 inch above) and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or until it's soft. You can add more water if you like more sauce.
- When finished, add the ground geera, taste for salt.
Back to the bara dough: After the dough has rested, for into 1 1/2 inch balls. Place oil with shortening in a pot on medium high heat. For the bara, place some oil (about 1/2 teaspoon) onto a plate, place the ball and use your fingers to press out the dough into a paper-thin circle. Gently lift your bara from one end and add to the oil. As soon as bubbles start forming (after about 3-5 seconds), flip the bara. After about 3-5 seconds or so, remove onto a paper towel to drain. Do not let the bara get brown. Continue with all the other balls of dough.