Ingredients

• 250 g dried chickpeas (channa)
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 375 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground roasted cumin (geera)
• 1 tsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1½ tsp salt
• 250 ml warm water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp Trinidad green seasoning
• 2 tbsp Trinidad-style curry powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin (geera)
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 bunch culantro (chadon beni)
• 60 g tamarind pulp
• 250 ml water
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 cucumber
• 1 lime
• 1 L vegetable oil for deep frying
• to taste Trinidad pepper sauce

Method

1. 01
   Soak the channa Cover the dried chickpeas with plenty of cold water and leave them to soak overnight, about eight hours.
2. 02
   Mix the bara dough In a large bowl, mix the flour, turmeric, roasted geera, yeast, sugar, baking powder and half a teaspoon of salt, then add the warm water a little at a time and knead for about five minutes into a very soft, slightly sticky dough.
3. 03
   Rest the dough Rub the dough with a little oil, cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and leave it somewhere warm for about one hour until it has doubled in size.
4. 04
   Boil the channa Drain the soaked chickpeas, put them in a pot with fresh water to cover by five centimetres and the baking soda, and simmer for about forty five minutes until they are very soft and crush easily between your fingers.
5. 05
   Make the tamarind sauce Put the tamarind pulp, water, brown sugar, two cloves of minced garlic and a pinch of salt in a small pot and simmer for about ten minutes, then strain out the seeds and stir in a little chopped chadon beni.
6. 06
   Make the cucumber chutney Mix the grated cucumber with the lime juice, one clove of minced garlic, a little chopped chadon beni and a pinch of salt, then let it sit for about fifteen minutes.
7. 07
   Fry the curry Mix the curry powder and geera with about four tablespoons of water into a paste, heat the two tablespoons of oil in a pot, fry the onion and the remaining garlic for a minute, then add the curry paste and cook for about three minutes, stirring, until it darkens and the oil separates.
8. 08
   Simmer the channa Add the boiled chickpeas, the green seasoning, the whole scotch bonnet, one teaspoon of salt and about two cups of the reserved cooking water, then simmer for about fifteen minutes, mashing some of the chickpeas against the pot until the curry is thick but still loose enough to spoon.
9. 09
   Shape the bara Oil your hands, pinch off sixteen pieces of dough about the size of a golf ball, and pat each one flat into a thin round about ten centimetres across on an oiled tray, then let them rest for about ten minutes.
10. 10
    Fry the bara Heat the frying oil to about one hundred and eighty degrees Celsius and fry the bara one or two at a time for about fifteen seconds on each side, until puffed and lightly golden, then drain them on paper.
11. 11
    Assemble the doubles Overlap two bara on a sheet of paper, spoon a generous amount of channa on top, add tamarind sauce, cucumber chutney and pepper sauce to taste, then fold the paper around them and eat straight away.