Trinidad Doubles (recipe)
Filed Under pareve, beans, vegetarian, breakfast, snacks, multimedia | Posted on February 1, 2007
As I’ve written in the past Trinidad doubles is the ultimate local street food. It’s cheap. Usually hot/warm. Hearty. Filling. The below video, from the bookmann, is for the old skool style of doubles with 2 bara that form a ‘chickpea sandwich’. These days doubles vendors more often will make one large bara that is then folded over to enclose the curried channa filling. You can see that method in the below video! 
One large thin bara may be good for speed and profits but let’s not let the 2 bara method die out either, it is after all how doubles got its name! Plus it’s cute!
By the way, I’ve seen online several people mentioning that their bara tends to come out like fried bake (bready?) … So I should let readers know that done right bara should be spongy and pillowy, light and chewy and very flexible/bendable If you are one of those with fried bake results drop me a line and I’ll try to troubleshoot 
Trinidad Doubles
(adapted from a recipe in the Naparima Girls’ High School Cookbook)
INGREDIENTS:
Bara:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon gheera (cumin)
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 tsp sugar
Oil for frying
Filling (Curried Channa):
1 14 oz channa, tinned
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tsp ground geera (cumin)
1 tsp Pepper sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
METHOD:
1. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, curry powder and gheera.
2. In a separate small bowl place the warm water, sugar and yeast and set to sponge for 5 minutes.
3. To the flour, add the yeast mixture and enough water to make a slightly firm dough.
4. Mix well, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for 1 1/2 hours.
5. For the filling, heat the oil in a heavy skillet, add onion, garlic and 1 heaped tablespoon of curry powder mixed with 1/4 cup water.
6. Sauté for a few minutes.
7. Add the channa, stir to coat well and cook for five minutes.
8. Add 1 cup water, gheera, salt and pepper; cover, lower heat and simmer until the peas are very soft (20-30 minutes).
9. When the channa is finished it should be moist and soft.
10. Add pepper sauce and season to taste with additional salt if desired.
11. For the bara: The dough should be punched down and allowed to sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
12. To shape the bara, take 1 tablespoon of the dough and flatten to a round, 4 or 5 inches in diameter.
NOTE: Pay particular attention to how thin, flat, and oily/sticky these rounds are. If your rounds are thicker, dryer or heavier than this they will -not- come out with the right texture
13. Use oil to moisten palms of your hands so that the dough won’t stick to them 
14. Fry the baras in hot oil until puffy (about 15 seconds per side), turn once and drain on kitchen paper
15. When all are cooked, fill with channa by placing a heaping tablespoon of the cooked filling on each bara, covering with another to form a sandwich.
Makes 6 servings
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52 Responses to “Trinidad Doubles (recipe)”
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Once again you have enlightened me to another great recipe. I just love the exposure the internet gives us to so many great cuisines and bloggers. Your photos are fantastic and mouth watering.
oh wow thanks so much sylvie
it really is yummy 
hope you get to give it a try or taste someone else’s one day 
ok here goes. I will admit now that I am harden!
I didnt follow the instructions. I used baking powder and egg white to do the leavening (just experimenting)
The things tasted like pohlorie! I loved it!
ALso they were kinda thick but still airy! Next time I will follow your instructions…But great recipe! Chennete also had it a while ago too!
yes, hers is a different one
i have it bookmarked to try as well 
NO EGG WHITES!! lolziez … you playing ALton Brown 
i realized that the bara batter is what a lot of the vendors using for pholourie
but you made that fast girl, i only posted it a few hours ago
It don’t take long once you catch a VAPS! hahahah
Yummy, yummy, yummy. I see you are on a street food roll. Hope to see more. I am really happy, I discovered your blog. I’m thoroughly enjoying it.
hi helen! yes! i’m in a street food frame of mind
lol 
cooking up today’s installment at the moment 
(stay tuned tomorrow 
) …
i was thinking that this recipe for the bara is probably quite similar to what you were looking for in pholourie… and so some testing between the two will probably get you what you want
i’m glad you found me too 
I have saved your recipe and as you suggested, I will play around with it for the phoulorie. Thanks. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s blog. teehee…..
hehe, i know how that goes
Mmmm doubles! I used to get them at a place called Patty King all the time.
oh wow
hehehe 
yuh have to try them made by trinis tho 
Nice. I went on a doubles craze a couple weeks ago - once I am on an airport. Mmmm. Now I want some again.
they were yum
made me want to open a stand! 
you back now? 
double delish
***steals two and runs awayyyyy***
i DON’T doubt it for a second!
Wicked recipe, Sarina! Doubles is a staple meal for a Trini any day of the year…lol
Hunger took me over one early morning and I couldn’t wait 1 and 1/2 hours for the dough to raise! (shame!) So I used instant yeast and it worked fab! Also added a touch of saffron and the bara came out with a lovely light golden colour…
Keep up the good work with bringing us Trinis together!
thanks juliette!
Hi Sarina,
Thanks for this recipe, and all the great how-to photos. I lived in Grenada for a couple of years, and doubles were one of my favorite foods. Tonight I was thinking, why not try to find a recipe and make them yourself? (There’s no one at all selling them around my area of central Illinois!) I haven’t had one in years. I must try this soon and post about it.
Ooh — doubles!
thanks for the kind words lisa
i have visited your site and added you to my blogroll 
i hope you get a chance to try the doubles recipe and that you enjoy it. Do let me know how it all turns out! 
Thank you so much for posting this! I recently met a lovely Trini girl who was visiting Taiwan — she hasn’t been home in almost two years, so I went looking for a taste of home to share with her. Your doubles recipes was perfect! So easy to make, and she said they were just like home. Made her cry, even! She says I am family now, and must come see her when she gets back to Trinidad. Ah, the power of food.
Thanks again!
oh kat, thank you sooo much for sharing this, it brought tears to my eyes
I never thought that my recipes would or could ever be used this way 
I’m so happy I could play a part in bringing a smile to your friends face and that I could help her feel a little less homesick 
*hug*!
Hi everyone
I am a student here in the USA and I am doing a paper on Trinidad foods. I have to create a menu, which I did with all the doubles ,aloo pie, Pelau etc etc. Now every Trini would know what I am talking about but it is difficult for me to try and explain some dishes, its contents etc. Is there someone out there who can help me? Point me in the right direction where I can maybe get like a Trini Dictionary for foods or something…
Thanks
Hi Andrea
Thanks for visiting TriniGourmet.com 
There was a site that I found a while ago that seemed to provide what I think you are looking for 
You can find it here:
http://www.usm.maine.edu/~amoroso/Timothy/TriniFood.html
I also found this:
http://www.tobagowi.com/data/fooddrinks.htm
I hope they help!
Hi. Just had a bunch of friends over for a doubles and they completely loved them. Great recipe and instructions. Thanks so much. Do you know if the doubles can be baked instead of fried for a lighter taste?
hi jeff! so glad the recipe was a success with you and your friends
i’ve never had, tried, or heard of baked bara before, I imagine the texture would be a bit different and the result would be flatter. Give it a try though if you’re so inclined and let me know how it turns out 
[…] pastries and cakes. Try the coconut rolls, if you get a chance. Not to be missed are the “doubles.” Available only Wednesday through Saturday, “doubles” are an indigenous street […]
I must have did something wrong after you add the 1/3 cup of water then it says to add enough additional water to form a slightly stiff dough is where i believe my problem lies my husband is trini and he doesnt know either LOL!
Oh dear Shirley, sorry to hear about the mishap
If the bara came out more like bake/bread you probably didn’t add enough water, the dough should be relatively loose one, see how thin and stretchy they are in the picture above (before they are fried?) Try adding more water until you have a mixture that feels ‘gooey’ 
It’s me again, sneaking over on your site for the millionth time!
I had heard of doubles before but didn’t know exactly what they were. I was thinking along the lines of some sort of card game or something. LOL.
Doubles look similar to ham biscuits that we have here in the U.S. in the southern states like North Carolina.
My baking is scary (and working with any kind of dough), so I must confess that I won’t be preparing your doubles recipe anytime soon.
I’ll wait for when my Mom visits and I’ll make her do it.
[…] bara, covering with another to form a sandwich. (Post and picture reproduced with permission from here. Do check out the additional pictures, video and tips at that […]
Well, is years ah tryin to make a decent doubles but no real success…ah hopin dat the secrets revealed here will put me on the path to true doubles heaven…wooooh!!
I honestly love Trini food as much as I love their women, I have no clue which one is better :). This gourmet Trini pictures got me fiending. I cant cook but I sure as hell need to marry a woman who can do this plus more lol
hi there ,i need a recipe for pone havn’t had it in years and can’t find it in this america ,please help
hi trinis,u know the chinese fry chicken that we get in those chinese restaurants in trinidad? does anyone have the recipe for that? florida chinese food comes no where close to trinidad style chinese food.thanks
I tried this recipe today except I used self rising flour, added 1 tsp of baking powder, and didn’t add salt. I did that because this was the way they made it a roti shop where I worked a few years ago. Man were they goood!!! I soaked tamarind and added sugar, blended green seasoning, garlic and pepper to make a sauce and that came out great too. Thanks so much for posting such a manageable recipe. Most recipes for doubles I’ve encountered start with “take 5 lbs of flour….”
I haven’t been home in Trinidad for a long time. I’m going to make some doubles tomorrow.
I am going to try this recipe,I would also like to get a recipe for Trinidad beef pies.
Dis i go have to try out! Just decided to start trying out all kind of Trini dishes dat i eh know how to make yet.
This recipe is pretty good. I have made it two times so far. I used my bread machine to knead the dough both times.
The first time I made it, I fried all the bara and left them on a plate out in the open…but they got sort of hard. It was still edible mind you and good enough to give it another shot.
The second time I put a little bit of dhal flour in with the regular flour…that wasn’t such a good idea as it made the bara a bit dense. What made it better than the first time though, is that I didn’t leave the bara exposed and assembled the doubles at the same time. I fried one bara, took a scoop of channa, put it in the bara then fried another bara and put it on top, then wrapped it up in wax paper right away, just like when you buy it. That way they kept soft.
I’m in Canada, so yes unfortunately, I have gone in search of doubles and received “fried bake.” In addition, I have also received “dinner roll” and “pie crust” varieties. Thanks for this recipe. At least now I can make them myself instead of paying for those abominations
I’ve never found these in the Midwest, although I’ve asked around. It’s somewhat difficult to get the proper texture, but as long as you make sure the dough is slack and wet, everything should come out okay!
Topchef at http://www.epicureforum.com
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Hi, Thank you so very much for your recipe. It almost made me cry when eating it for the 1st time in 8 years. I have been living and working in India for 8 years and although they have something similar called Chole bhatura, it just didnt quite make the cut. My Russian Fiance and Indian friends flipped when they tasted it. Thank you so much for giving a Trini so Far away from home a taste of home.Do keep up the marvelous work you are doing and May God Continue to bless you…
Nick…
first try i messed up the barra…i kept the channa till the next day and followed your instructions more closly and they came out fantastic….i need too find hot peppers too make some heat 4 these recipies….tanks dds
My friend and I tried this recipe and it was delicious. Thanks!
Just to let you know that I recognize the doubles vendor in the video. He is located opposite the 1 Woodbrook Place construction site by Roxy. He has a great pepper sauce and his channa is full of flavour. Strange how we can recognize things not only by the faces but the small glimpses of the surroundings. A taste of home.
I tried the recipe, I think I followed the directions but am a bit confused as so how soft the mixture has to be, it was sticking to my hands so i couldn’t quite spread it out.I ‘m also thinking maybe the old was too hot cuz they got crispy…what do ¥ou think? I also found the chana quite salts…is that just me ? maybe i’ve been eating salt less food for too long=S
I’ll try it again some time soon, i’m sure if i try enough i’ll get it right evenually, Thanks
Once again, I’ve only heard about Doubles ONCE on a non-food website. The way the ladies were raving about it, when I came upon your website and saw the name, I knew exactly what they were referring to. I love chick peas! Your doubles look yummy!
It’s a shame where as of April 1st you doubles lovers have to pay as much as $5TT for a doubles
Sarina,Sarina,Sarina!!God bless your heart!
Last evening I tried your doubles recipie and let me just say to all you bloggers, YOU CAN’T GET A BETTER DOUBLES RECIPIE THAN THIS!! I borrowed Juliet’s idea and added safron for the authentic bara colour[1 level tsp], and from Mishimee the wax paper to keep them soft, although while making them when I pulled for wax paper it was finished so!I used a damp tea towel to blanket them in.the result!I was ready to open a doubles stand in Luxembourg.I also married the bara with Birtie’s pepper sauce,the best.My husband who is not Trini but boldly thinks he is Bara specialist suggested that we have the treat at least twice a week.
God bless you Sarina,thank’s for adding riches to our life.
I have to say, i made these after listening to him rave about doubles for the past year. He used to get them from a street vendor in New York while living there a few years ago. I was a little hesitant, i didn’t know what to to expect. I was immensely pleased with how everything turned out, they were super yummy!! My husband loved them, and i’m sure they will be a staple in our home from here on out!
It is great to see a Caribbean blogspot
You can check mine out
It is very new but it is getting a little traffic
http://barbadianvegan.blogspot.com/
It is a barbadian vegan website I created to show the world that being a vegan ( someone who does not eat fish, meat,milk eggs or honey) is fun and tasty
Tay
OMG..i really miss trini food and now that i am here in egypt with several trinidadians, they are really bringing up the nostalgia. anyway, i want to make the doubles but i need to know how to make the pepper sauce or what is a good substitute. also do you have saltfish recipes, like the one that goes in the bakes?