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AI-generated photograph: Two overlapping golden bara on a white enamel plate, heaped with yellow curried chickpeas, topped with pale green cucumber and a dark drizzle of tamarind sauce, coriander leaves scattered over

Home · Recipes · Trinidad doubles with curried chickpeas

Caribbean · Lunch

Trinidad doubles with curried chickpeas

soft fried bara · curried chickpeas · tamarind and cucumber

AI-generated photograph

The famous Trinidad street food: two soft, golden fried flatbreads called bara with spiced chickpea curry spooned between them, topped with cool cucumber and sweet tamarind sauce.

Contains: cereals containing gluten, as written. Contains gluten from the plain flour. The spices are used one by one, so there is no curry powder to check; if you use a ready made curry powder or pepper sauce, check it for mustard and gluten.

Ingredients

  • 300g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, for the dough
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin, for the dough
  • 1 sachet (7g) fast-action dried yeast
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar
  • Half a teaspoon salt, for the dough
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for the curry
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • Half a scotch bonnet chilli, seeds scraped out, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric, for the curry
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin, for the curry
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 2 tins (400g each) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 teaspoon salt, for the curry
  • 1 cucumber, coarsely grated
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • 10g fresh coriander, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tamarind paste
  • 2 tablespoons light brown soft sugar, for the tamarind sauce
  • 500ml vegetable oil, for frying

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Let's cook

  1. Make the bara dough. Mix the flour, turmeric, cumin, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Stir in about 200ml warm water (warm like a bath, not hot) and mix into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead for 3 minutes, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.
  2. Make the curried chickpeas while the dough rises. Heat the oil in a pan on a medium heat. Fry the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and scotch bonnet and cook for 1 minute. Wash your hands after touching the chilli.
  3. Stir the turmeric, cumin and coriander into 3 tablespoons of water to make a paste. Add it to the pan and fry for 2 minutes, stirring, until it smells toasty.
  4. Add the chickpeas, the salt and 400ml water. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring now and then and crushing some chickpeas against the side of the pan, until soft and saucy. Add a splash of water if it gets too thick.
  5. Make the toppings. Squeeze the grated cucumber to get rid of some water, then mix it with the lime juice and coriander. In a small bowl, stir the tamarind paste, sugar and 4 tablespoons of water into a runny sauce.
  6. Shape the bara. Oil your hands and divide the dough into 16 small balls. Press each one out on an oiled worktop into a thin circle about 10cm across.
  7. Heat the frying oil in a wide, deep pan so it is about 2cm deep, on a medium heat, to 170C. Fry the bara 2 or 3 at a time for about 30 seconds on each side, until puffed and pale golden. Drain on kitchen paper and keep them wrapped in a clean tea towel so they stay soft.
  8. To serve, lay two bara side by side, overlapping a little. Spoon chickpeas on top, then a little cucumber and a drizzle of tamarind sauce. Fold over to eat. Two doubles each.

Tips

  • Bara should be soft and bendy, not crisp. Fry them briefly and keep them wrapped.
  • The chickpeas should be soft enough to squash between your fingers; cook them longer if not.

Swaps

  • Milder: leave out the scotch bonnet.
  • Hot pepper sauce is the usual extra at a doubles stand. Many contain mustard, so check the label.

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