Trini Doubles with Curried Channa

⏱ 90 min · Serves 4

Trinidad's greatest street breakfast: two pillowy turmeric-yellow bara flatbreads wrapped around soft, spiced curried chickpeas, with tamarind sauce and fiery pepper for good measure. Messy, cheap and utterly addictive.

Per serving: 640 kcal · 19.0g protein · 88.0g carbs · 23.0g fat

Ingredients

• For the bara: 300g plain flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 200ml warm water
• Neutral oil, for frying (about 500ml)
• For the channa: 2 x 400g tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp Caribbean curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin (geera)
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 scotch bonnet, pricked but whole
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 300ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• Handful coriander (chadon beni if you can find it), chopped
• For the tamarind sauce: 3 tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 100ml water
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• Pinch salt
• To serve: hot pepper sauce, cucumber chutney or kuchela (optional)

Method

1. Make the bara dough: whisk flour, yeast, turmeric, cumin, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. Add the warm water and mix to a soft, slightly sticky dough. Knead 3-4 minutes until smooth, rub with a little oil, cover and leave somewhere warm for 1 hour until puffy.
2. Meanwhile, start the channa. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the onion for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
3. Stir the curry powder, cumin and turmeric with 3 tbsp water to make a paste, add to the pan and fry for 1-2 minutes until fragrant and darkened.
4. Add chickpeas, scotch bonnet, thyme, water and salt. Simmer covered for 25-30 minutes, mashing about a third of the chickpeas against the pan, until thick and saucy. Remove the pepper and thyme, stir in coriander.
5. Tamarind sauce: simmer tamarind, sugar, water, cumin and salt for 5 minutes until syrupy. Set aside.
6. Divide the dough into 8 balls. Flatten each with oiled fingers into a 12cm disc, about 3mm thick.
7. Heat 2cm oil in a deep pan to 180C. Fry the baras one at a time for 20-30 seconds a side — they should puff up. Drain on kitchen paper; they stay soft, not crisp.
8. To assemble: lay a bara flat, spoon on hot channa, drizzle with tamarind sauce and pepper sauce, top with a second bara. Eat immediately, over the sink.