Doubles

Doubles emerged from Trinidad's Indo-Trinidadian community, descended from indentured labourers brought from India in the nineteenth century after the abolition of slavery. Their cooking reshaped the island's food, and doubles is perhaps its most visible legacy.

The name comes from the practice of asking for two of the fried breads rather than one to hold the filling — a request that became the standard order and then the name of the dish.

It is overwhelmingly a breakfast food, sold from carts and stalls from early morning, though vendors operate late into the night as well. It is inexpensive, quick and eaten standing.

The bread is bara: a soft, slightly spongy fried flatbread made from flour leavened with yeast and coloured yellow with turmeric, along with cumin. It is fried quickly so it puffs and stays pliable rather than crisping.

The filling is channa — chickpeas curried until soft, some breaking down into the sauce to thicken it. The seasoning leans on curry powder, cumin, garlic and the herb known locally as chadon beni, which resembles coriander but is stronger.

The chickpeas should be tender enough to yield easily but not reduced to a purée, and the mixture wet enough to soak into the bara without running out of it.

Two bara are laid out, channa spooned between them, and the toppings applied by the vendor according to instructions. Tamarind chutney, cucumber, mango chutney and shado beni sauce are the usual options.

The critical question is how much pepper. Trinidadian pepper sauce is made from Scotch bonnet or similar peppers and is genuinely hot, and vendors ask every customer. Slight pepper is the common compromise.

It is wrapped in waxed paper and eaten immediately with both hands, and the accepted wisdom is that a doubles cannot be eaten tidily.