Doubles (Trinidadian Flatbread with Curried Chickpeas)

Name: Doubles (Trinidadian Flatbread with Curried Chickpeas)
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 125 min
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose-flour; 1 tsp active dry yeast; 2 tsp sugar; ½ tsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tbsp curry powder; 1 cup warm water; 3 cups canola oil ((or enough to immerse and fry each bara)); 16 ounces canned chickpeas ((drained)); 1 medium onion ((diced)); 3 cloves garlic ((minced)); 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp ground nutmeg; 2 tbsp curry powder; 1 tsp black pepper; Salt ((to taste)); 1 cup water or vegetable stock ((if using vegetable stock with sodium then consider omitting the salt)); 1 tbsp canola oil; ½ English cucumber; 1 tsp garlic ((minced)); 1 tbsp cilantro ((diced)); 1 tsp scotch bonnet pepper ((diced; seed for a less spicy chutney)); 2 tsp lime juice

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Doubles are a popular street food in Trinidad and Tobago. Doubles consist of a curry chickpea (channa) filling sandwiched between two spiced, fried flatbreads called bara. The channa filling is topped with a spicy cucumber chutney and tamarind chutney (I usually use Indian mango chutney as I prefer it over tamarind chutney). Doubles are commonly eaten for breakfast and as a late-night snack, but they can also be served as appetizers. If you’re like me and you want an alternative to the same old cold cut sandwiches, then give doubles a try for lunch.

How to Make Doubles

Making doubles is a labour of love. This is not the type of food that you want to make on a busy weeknight. This is best for those days when you’ve got time to kill and want to have some fun in the kitchen. Since you have to make three separate dishes (four if you decide to make your own tamarind or mango chutney) to make doubles, timing is important if you want to have everything done at around the same time. My advice is that you start making the dough for the bara first and about 30 minutes before the dough is done resting, start making the channa filling. Leave the cucumber chutney for when you’re done making the bara and the channa filling and are letting them cool down before serving. If you’re making your own tamarind chutney, make that well ahead of time, like the day before.

Instructions for Making the Bara (Flatbread)

To make the bara, combine 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast with 2 teaspoons of sugar and 1 cup of warm water in a bowl. Set the mixture aside until bubbles begin to form at the top, about 10 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon of curry powder.

Add the flour mixture to the yeast and mix together to form a dough, add more flour to the mixture if the dough is too wet. Kneed the dough on a lightly floured surface for 2 minutes. Oil the inside of a bowl completely with 1 tablespoon of canola oil. Form the dough into a ball and place in the oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet dish towel and place the bowl in a warm place for 90 minutes, until the dough doubles in size.

Punch down the dough to release the air, then split the dough into 10-14 small balls; I like my doubles to be slightly larger than usual so I split the dough into 10 pieces. If you want regular sized doubles, split the dough into 14 pieces. Take one of the balls and roll it into a flat pancake. If the dough sticks to your hand as you’re flattening it, oil both sides of the dough and continue making it flat. Repeat this with the remaining balls.

Heat canola oil in a wok or deep frying pan to 350° F (175° C); use 3 cups of oil or enough to completely immerse the bara. Fry the bara one at a time until they’re puffed and golden, about 40 seconds on each side. Put the bara on a plate lined with paper towel once they’ve been fried.

Instructions for Making the Channa (Chickpea) Filling

For the channa filling, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Dice one medium onion and mince 3 cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the oil and cook for 2 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of ground cumin, 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons of curry powder, mix everything together and cook for 1 minute. Drain 1 can of chickpeas (16 ounces) and pour the chickpeas into the saucepan.

Add 1 cup of water or vegetable stock as well as 1 teaspoon of black pepper and salt (to taste) to the mixture. At this point, I like to use the back of a large spoon to mash the chickpeas a bit so they don’t roll off the flatbread when I’m eating the doubles. Cover the saucepan and cook the channa until the liquid is completely reduced, about 15 minutes.

Instructions for Making the Cucumber Chutney

Wash 1/2 of an English cucumber. Use a coarse blade grater to grate the cucumber. Pour the grated cucumber into a small sieve strainer and completely strain the water from the cucumber; use the back of a spoon to press the water out of the cucumber. After draining the water, pour the cucumber into a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of diced cilantro, 1 teaspoon of diced scotch bonnet pepper (seed for a less spicy chutney), and 2 teaspoons of lime juice to the cucumber and mix everything together.

Notes

To assemble the doubles, take a bara, put some of the channa filling on top, garnish with some of the cucumber chutney and tamarind or mango chutney. Make a sandwich by placing a bara on top of the filling. You can also eat the doubles by folding the filled bara into a taco.
Doubles store well in the fridge, just keep them disassembled when refrigerating for later. When you’re ready to eat them, you can heat the bara in the microwave on high for 30-40 seconds. I’ve never tried to freeze the bara so I’m not sure how they turn out after freezing.
This recipe for doubles is my own recipe. However, I originally learned how to make Trinidadian food from reading The Naparima Girls’ High School Cookbook (disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Amazon or the recommended product). This cookbook is a classic, comprehensive guide to Trinidadian cuisine. I highly recommend it to those who want to learn more about Trinidadian food.

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