Trinidad Doubles

Ingredients

• 400 g plain flour
• 5 g fast-action dried yeast
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tins of chickpeas, drained
• 3 tbsp curry powder
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 scotch bonnet, chopped
• a big handful of coriander
• 60 g mango chutney, for the sweet sauce
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 1/2 cucumber, finely diced

Method

1. Make the bara dough

   Mix the flour, yeast, turmeric, cumin, a teaspoon of salt and about 250 ml warm water into a soft, slightly sticky dough. The turmeric is why bara are bright yellow, and it goes in the dough rather than on top.

2. Prove

   Cover and prove until doubled, about an hour.

   1 h

3. Make the channa

   Fry the onion, garlic and scotch bonnet, add the curry powder and cook it out, then the chickpeas and enough water to cover. Simmer 30 minutes, crushing about a third of them, until thick and stewy rather than soupy.

   30 min

4. Fry the bara flat and fast

   Flatten oiled pieces of dough into thin 12 cm discs by hand and fry in oil at 180°C for about 20 seconds a side. They puff slightly and should stay soft and floppy — a crisp bara is a failed one.

   1 min

5. Assemble in twos

   Two bara per portion, overlapping, with the channa spooned into the middle, then coriander chutney, cucumber and a little sweet mango sauce. It is called doubles because of the two breads, and one will not hold the filling.

6. Eat immediately

   Fold and eat straight away, standing up, over a plate. There is no dignified way to do this.