Yes Bara and Channa: the original street food of Trinidad. I soon learnt on my first trip to Trini, not to buy Bara and Channa from just anyone!
My Dad and I still laugh about it to this day how we would drive 45 minutes away from my Uncle’s home, in the south, to buy fresh bara (bread) and channa (chick-pea) from a middle aged lady who made it straight from her isolated hut, passing many other vendors along the way. This lady’s bara was made right before our dry eyes and watering lips rather than fried beforehand and left to steam in a hot pan waiting for the first customer. The best bara is slightly crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle with a mild curry flavour.
This wouldn’t be a true hot sandwich without the condiments: the Anchar (pickled mango chutney), the tamarind sauces and the cool cucumber salad. If you follow this recipe correctly, you will also have the most lightest fluffiest bara you could ever want: easy to slice into a pocket or sandwich two bara’s together with a serving of curried channa, hence the name ‘doubles’.
It’s a messy sandwich to eat at times, but that’s all accepted as no compromise is made on taste! It’s quick, tasty and your sure to have another (doubles!) Ok here endeth the puns!
INGREDIENTS Bara 2 cups strong white bread flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp instant yeast 1/3 Cup warm water 1/4 tsp Sugar Oil for frying Curry Channa 1 tin of Chick Peas (keep the salted water for later) 3 cloves Garlic crushed 1/2 medium Onion - grated 2 Spring onions - finely chopped 1 tbsp of Sweet red pepper (finely chopped) 1-2 tbsp of Patak’s Madras Curry paste (or Chief Curry Powder) 1/2 tsp of Cumin powder (Geera) 1 tbsp Olive oil Cucumber Chutney 1 Cucumber - finely sliced 2-3 Garlic cloves Juice of 1 Lime 1/2 tsp of Scotch bonnet pepper 1/2 tsp Brown sugar 1-2 tbsp of freshly chopped Coriander. ‘Tambran’ Tamarind Sauce see recipe here METHOD Bara In a large bowl combine the flour, salt, turmeric. Curry Channa Copyright 2015 – all rights reserved.Bara and Channa (Doubles)
I love this recipe…. It so yet Indian, yet not so Indian. I am going to try it soon…. 🙂
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I like that response!
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Amazing!
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Thank you for stopping by! 😉
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Prettiest doubles we’ve ever seen!
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Wow! Thank you!
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I saw the recipe in today’s Guardian newspaper and I will definitely try it. I am a born Trini and I love doubles.
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Thank you Crystal!! I appreciate the support from a fellow Trini! 😉
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We made this last night. It’s so tasty..! Thank you…. 🙂
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Lovely! I’m glad you enjoyed it!
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I need to try this.. I have a question, I’ve tried multiple recipes online and some have yielded hard crunchy bar as and some are softer but I have yet to find a recipe that taste like the original one I’ve tried which is extremely soft and pillowy, somewhat greasy and a little elastic… do you have any tips to achieve this? Much appreciated
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Hi Anna
Sorry for the delay in responding. I know what you mean by light and soft bara…this recipe should do the trick…I fried them in 1-2 inch of oil on a medium heat. About 1 minute per side. Use damp fingers, once you have rolled them out to the desired size, just to manipulate it a bit (press fingers into dough spreading it out a bit).
Let me know how it goes!
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Reblogged this on Foodista_G.
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cant wait to try this recipe
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