Other world recipe

Trinidad Doubles

Name: Trinidad Doubles
Prep time: 1 h 20 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 2 h 5 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Other world cuisines
Ingredients: 500 g all-purpose flour; 7 g instant yeast; 5 g baking powder; 5 g ground turmeric; 12 g sugar; 240 ml warm water; 450 ml neutral oil for shallow frying; 600 g cooked chickpeas, drained; 120 g onion, finely diced; 20 g garlic, minced; 12 g Trinidad curry powder; 5 g ground cumin; 20 g chadon beni or cilantro, chopped; 60 ml tamarind sauce, to serve

Soft turmeric-scented bara sandwiches curried chickpeas, with tamarind and pepper sauces added at the table.

Trinidad and Tobago; Indo-Trinidadian doubles, two fried baras filled with curried channa

Prep: 1 hr 20 min
Cook: 45 min
Total: 2 hr 5 min
Servings: 8

Trinidad doubles with two turmeric bara, curried chickpeas and tamarind chutney — **Real finished-dish photograph**Photograph by Gary SoupSource page · Original file · CC BY 2.0Cropped, resized, and compressed by Recipe Nest Vault.

Ingredients

500 g
all-purpose flour
7 g
instant yeast
5 g
baking powder
5 g
ground turmeric
12 g
sugar
240 ml
warm water
450 ml
neutral oil for shallow frying
600 g
cooked chickpeas, drained
120 g
onion, finely diced
20 g
garlic, minced
12 g
Trinidad curry powder
5 g
ground cumin
20 g
chadon beni or cilantro, chopped
60 ml
tamarind sauce, to serve

Method

01
Mix and rest the bara dough
Whisk flour, yeast, baking powder, turmeric, sugar and salt. Add warm water and knead into a soft, slightly tacky dough; cover and rest until airy.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
02
Season the channa
Cook onion and garlic in a little oil until soft. Stir in curry powder and cumin, then add chickpeas and enough water to make a thick, spoonable curry.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
03
Finish the chickpea curry
Simmer until some chickpeas soften and thicken the sauce while others remain whole. Mash a few against the pot, then stir in chadon beni and season to taste.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
04
Divide the bara
Divide the rested dough into small balls. Keep them covered and flatten each one into a thin round just before frying.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
05
Fry the bara
Heat a shallow layer of oil over medium heat. Fry each dough round briefly on both sides until puffed and cooked through but still flexible; drain on a rack.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph
06
Assemble the doubles
Lay one bara on a plate, spoon warm channa into the centre and add chutney or pepper sauce to taste. Cover with a second bara and serve while warm.
Cooking-step illustration, not a photograph

Practical notes

Tips

Rest the dough or batter covered so the flour hydrates evenly and shaping becomes easier.
Use only enough flour to prevent sticking; too much bench flour makes the cooked wrapper tough.

Common mistakes

Overworking the dough makes it spring back and hard to seal; stop as soon as it is smooth and let it rest.
Overfilling makes seams burst; use a modest filling and keep the sealing edge clean.

Substitutions

If a specialty cheese is unavailable, blend a mild melting cheese with a little salty brined cheese for balance.
Use a neutral vegetable oil for pan cooking; strongly flavored oils can change the aroma of the dough.

Storage

Keep cooked channa refrigerated in a covered container for up to 3 days and reheat once until steaming. Bara are best fresh; keep uncooked dough covered and chilled if holding it.

Cultural context

Doubles is an Indo-Trinidadian street food of two soft fried baras around curried channa. Vendors and households add different pepper sauces, tamarind chutney and kuchela; the two pieces of bara give the snack its name.

Sources and photo credit

This standardized method was independently rewritten after cross-checking the references below. Recipe Nest Vault does not claim that the credited photographer cooked from this exact version.

Recipe references

Doubles 01.jpg — Photograph by Gary Soup; CC BY 2.0.

Step illustrations: Original illustrations created by Recipe Nest Vault with OpenAI image_gen.

Back to other world recipes

Trinidad Doubles

Ingredients

Method

Mix and rest the bara dough

Season the channa

Finish the chickpea curry

Divide the bara

Fry the bara

Assemble the doubles

Sources and photo credit

Recipe references

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