Trinidad Doubles Recipe (Curried Channa and Bara)
Doubles is Trinidad's favorite street food: two soft, turmeric-tinted fried flatbreads (bara) filled with curried channa (chickpeas) and topped with chutneys and pepper sauce. Sold from carts at dawn in Port of Spain — and with this recipe, from your kitchen.
Ingredients
For the bara:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground geera (cumin)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- About 3/4 cup warm water
- Oil for frying
For the channa:
- 2 cans (15 oz) chickpeas, drained (or 1 1/2 cups dried, soaked and boiled tender)
- 2 tbsp Chief Curry Powder
- 1 tbsp Chief Green Seasoning
- 1 onion, chopped; 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground geera
- 2 tbsp oil, salt to taste, about 1 1/2 cups water
To serve: grated cucumber, mango amchar or tamarind chutney, and Bertie's Pepper Sauce.
Preparation
1. Make the dough. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, turmeric, geera, and salt. Add warm water and knead into a soft dough. Cover and rise 1 hour, until doubled.
2. Curry the channa. Fry the curry powder, onion, garlic, and green seasoning in oil for 2 minutes. Add the chickpeas, geera, salt, and water. Simmer 20–25 minutes, lightly mashing some chickpeas so the sauce thickens.
3. Fry the bara. Divide the dough into 12 small balls. On an oiled surface, roll or stretch each into a thin 4–5 inch round. Fry in hot oil for a few seconds per side — they puff and stay soft. Drain on paper towels.
4. Assemble. Overlap two bara, spoon on the hot channa, and top with cucumber, chutney, and pepper sauce. Eat immediately, with your hands.
Tips
- Bara must be soft, not crisp: fry fast and stack them wrapped in a towel to keep them pliable.
- Slightly wet channa is correct — the sauce soaking into the bara is the whole point.
Shop curry powder, green seasoning, amchar, and pepper sauce in our Trinidad & Tobago collection.
Shop the Ingredients
Get the authentic ingredients for this recipe, delivered anywhere in the U.S.:
