Doubles — two pieces of soft, turmeric-yellow fried flatbread (bara) sandwiching curried chickpeas (channa), dressed with tamarind sauce, coconut chutney, and pepper sauce — is Trinidad and Tobago's national street food. It was invented by Emamool Deen and his wife, who was an Indo-Trinidadian cook. She swapped the traditional mung bean flour bara for cheaper, more available wheat flour. Emamool then rode his bicycle to town to sell her creation out of paper cones. One couple, one recipe change, one bicycle — and Caribbean food was changed forever.
The bara is a soft, pillowy fried bread made from wheat flour, turmeric, cumin, baking powder, and sometimes split pea flour. The dough is yeasted, rested for an hour, then portions are flattened and deep-fried until puffed and golden. The channa (curried chickpeas) is cooked with curry powder, cumin (geera), fenugreek (methi), garlic, and hot pepper. Assembly: one bara on the bottom, a generous scoop of channa, tamarind sauce, cucumber or coconut chutney, pepper sauce, second bara on top. Eaten immediately, standing up, from the vendor's hand.
- **The bara must be fresh.** A doubles vendor fries bara continuously throughout service. Bara that has sat for more than 5 minutes loses its pillowy softness and becomes dense. The best doubles vendors have a queue — the speed of the queue matches the speed of the fryer. - **The channa must be simmered until creamy.** The chickpeas should be soft enough to almost mash between your fingers — not al dente, not firm, not individually distinct. The curry should be thick enough to hold its place on the bara without dripping through. - **The condiment ratio is personal.** "Slight" means light on everything. "Heavy" means extra channa and pepper. "With everything" is the full battery. The vendor adjusts in real time based on the customer's single-word instruction.
THE CHEFS WHO NEVER WROTE COOKBOOKS + THE UNWRITTEN CARIBBEAN