Doubles (food)

"Doubles" is a common street food in Trinidad and Tobago. It is a sandwich made with two flat fried "breads", called "bara" filled with curried chick peas or garbanzo beans, commonly called channa (from Urdu/Hindi/Bhojpuri "chanaa"). Topped with a variety of spicy chutneys (mango, cucumber, coconut, tamarind) and extra pepper sauce (ranging from a dash "slight" to much more), this delicacy is undoubtedly the most popular fast food in Trinidad and Tobago. It is usually eaten for breakfast, and sometimes lunch, but can be a late night snack as well. Among the many popular doubles "hot spots" are the pioneer - Sleepy's Doubles at St Helena Junction, Deen's Doubles in San Juan, Ali's Doubles in San Fernando, "Sauce Doubles" in Curepe, "Johnny's Doubles" in La Romaine and Golconda.

Recipe

The bread is a quick bread made of flour, baking powder, salt, and ground turmeric, which gives the bread its yellow color. It is flattened to a thin round disk about four or five inches in diameter and fried until golden brown. The bara (from Hindi/Bhojpuri "bara") is then filled with the channa ready to be sold. There is no set recipe for the channa, which can be just curried or mixed with curry and dhal (split peas, usually the yellow variety, from Hindi/Bhojpuri "dhal").

History

The origins of this food began in Trinidad by the Deen family, Emamool Deen (a.k.a. Mamudeen) and his wife Rasulan in 1936 in Fairfield Princes Town. The name 'doubles' originated in 1937. When Mamudeen started the business the products he sold were Fried Channa wrapped in cone-shaped packs. He diversified his product line soon after by adding Curried Channa with chutney. He then introduced a single Bara with the curried channa. His customers would ask him to "double-up" on the Bara hence the name "doubles" evolved and Deen's Doubles became the pioneering brand.

As the demand for Deen's Doubles increased, Mamudeen employed his two brothers-in-law, Asgar Ali and Choate Ali to sell Deen's Doubles in 1937.

The Ali brothers launched their own Ali's doubles brand in 1938. Asgar Ali chose San Fernando for his sales district and Naparima College in particular as his historical starting point.Choate Ali remained in Princes Town while Mamudeen expanded to San Juan and Port of Spain.

One of Mamudeen's sons, Shamaloo Deen, later sold Deen's Doubles in his restaurant "Deen's Diner" on Marion Street, St. Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba on the Canadian Prairies where most of the channa consumed in Trinidad is grown.

Some culinary historians plausibly assume that Doubles evolved from the Indian dish Chole Bhature (also called Chana Bhatura), which is a combination of Chole (Chana masala), spicy chick peas and the Bhature (Poori), a fried puffy bread made of maida flour which is used in the making of Indian pastries, bread and biscuits.

Chole Bhature is a dish served with onions and achar and commonly eaten in northern India. It is served with one large Bhature which is eaten like chapati to scoop up the Chole and not presented as a sandwich like Doubles. The taste difference between Chole Bhature and Doubles is distinctive as the bara is made from all-purpose flour and spices and Trinidadian curries and chutneys have evolved with their own unique taste characteristics.

Vendors sell doubles out of a box. Mamudeen, the pioneer of doubles was the first to build a wooden box, painted yellow, to fit his freight bicycle from which he sold Deen's doubles. When automobiles replaced the freight bicycles the box remained to preserve the original sales image for doubles. A few vendors fry their Baras in makeshift kitchens in the back of pickup trucks; the channa however, continues to be produced in their home-based kitchens.Doubles frequently sell in Trinidad.

See also

• Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago
• Chole bhature

External links

• How to order doubles in Trinidad, Rishi Sankar (2010), Retrieved 2010-04-22
• Roti Joupa
• The Origin of Trinidad