Doubles was one of the dishes I missed most when I moved to Korea from Toronto, until I learned how to make them. Doubles, a Trinidadian dish with East Indian roots, are made with two pieces of bara (fried dough) and a few heaping spoonfuls of channa (chick pea) curry.  I got the recipe from the chef at Island Foods, one of my favorite West Indian restaurants in Toronto. My version has a few new twists but the result is pretty nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. Doubles are a great vehicle for Grace Hot Pepper Sauce featured in this week’s Spotted! and a great example of how to make great food that also just happens to not have any animal-products (without resorting to soy-based meat replicas.) Chickpeas can be found canned in some supermarkets and import shops and dried in Indian and Pakistani grocers where you can also find cumin.  

Bara
2 cups of flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 teaspoon yeast
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 cup oil for frying

Channa Curry
2 cups of chickpeas, canned or soaked over night and boiled until tender.
1 tablespoon curry powder
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 tablespoon oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground allspice (if you have it)
1 tsp Pepper sauce
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

In a small bowl place the warm water, sugar and yeast and set to sponge for 5 minutes. In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, curry powder and cumin. Add the yeast mixture and enough water to make a slightly firm dough. Knead until the dough is no longer sticky, adding flour if necessary. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow to rise for an hour.

For the filling, heat the oil in a heavy skillet, saute the onions until they are translucent, and then add the garlic and spices. Saute for another minute or so and then add the water. Add the chickpeas and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Add pepper sauce and season to taste.

The dough should be punched down and allowed to sit for 10 minutes. To shape the bara, take 1 tablespoon of the dough and flatten to a round, 4 or 5 inches in diameter.
Wet your hands so that the dough won’t stick to them but not so much as to make the dough too wet to fry.

Fry the baras in hot oil until puffy (about 15 seconds per side), turning once and drain on kitchen paper. When all are cooked, fill with channa by placing a heaping tablespoon of the cooked filling on each bara and top with cucumbers and hot pepper sauce.

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