A Trinidadian Lunch

Dad eating Doubles

My auntie and uncle from Trinidad are in the country at the moment, so an invite to the folks house for lunch is an opportunity I jump at, as I have been promised that my aunt has cooked a Trinidadian speciality: Doubles. Each Double consists of 2 rough pancakes ('baras') made with flour, perhaps a little channa flour that has a tablespoon of a mild chickpea curry ('channa') between them with a dash of tangy salsa type sauce which contains a bit of chilli and tamarind and perhaps also a spoon of mango chuntney. Though this has the form of a sandwich, it is not eaten as such, instead with the top bara, the channa is picked up with fingers and eaten. This is repeated until the top bara has been eaten after which the remaining bara with the channa on top of it is picked up and eaten. The name Doubles comes from the two baras in the dish. My Dad demonstrates here the authentic eating style, though it appears a little odd being eaten of a delicately floral plate; in Trinidad these are often eaten off a piece of greaseproof paper on the street! And yes dirty hands afterwards are mandatory! These were really tasty, a really vivid jolt of the Trini experience.
After a few of those I also manage to put away some buss up shot, a torn up style bread seen on the left below with more channa and some Trinidad spiced oven baked chicken. Perfect for the balmy weather this early September weekend.

Buss up shot and Trinidad chicken