Doubles are a delicious and popular Caribbean street food. They’re made up of two soft, puffy fried breads (or baras), hence the name doubles, stuffed with a filling of tasty chickpeas and eaten with chutney (cucumber, in today’s case). Unless you’ve tried them, however, it’s hard to do them justice – it’s a bit like telling someone who has never heard of Elton John that he’s a great pop star. So may I make a suggestion? Please stop by one of the UK’s many roti shops and order one (some?), then pop back here at a later date to make these.
Hot sauce doubles with cucumber chutney
Jarred chickpeas work best here, because they usually come in salted aquafaba, which is also used in this recipe. You can find them in most large supermarkets and in smaller Turkish, Polish and Asian food stores. If your chickpeas aren’t in salted water, add salt to the chickpeas a quarter-teaspoon at a time, until it tastes right to you.
Prep 15 min
Prove 1 hr
Cook 55 min
Serves 4
For the baras
270g plain flour
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp fine sea salt
7g sachet fast-action yeast (ie, 1 tsp)
Oil, to coat and fry
For the chickpeas
20g coriander leaves and tender stems, chopped
3 tbsp rapeseed oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tbsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground black pepper
700g jar chickpeas, not drained
¾-1 tsp hot sauce, to taste – I like Encona
For the chutney
1 large cucumber (300g net)
½ tsp fine sea salt
1 small garlic clove, peeled and minced
½ tsp hot sauce
10g coriander, picked and chopped (to get 5g)
For the bara, mix the flour, turmeric and salt in a large bowl, add the yeast and 150ml hand-hot water, then knead for up to five minutes, or just long enough to bring the dough together into a smooth ball. Put the dough in the bowl, coat with half a tablespoon of oil and set aside, uncovered, to prove for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Now for the chickpeas. Put the coriander in a blender with 150ml cold water and blitz smooth.
Put the oil in a medium saucepan on a medium heat and, once it’s hot, add the garlic and fry, stirring, for two minutes, until sticky. Stir in the spices for 30 seconds, then add the chickpeas and all the liquid from the jar, and cook for 10 minutes. Pour in the blitzed coriander water and cook for another 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated and the chickpeas are coated in a green sauce. Take off the heat and stir in the hot sauce to taste.
Grate the cucumber, put it in a sieve with a half-teaspoon of salt, toss with your hands and leave to steep for 10 minutes. Drain without pressing the cucumber, then put it in a bowl with the garlic, hot sauce and chopped coriander leaves. Mix to combine, then put to one side.
To cook the baras, oil a plate and divide the dough into eight equal balls. Working with one ball at a time, press each piece of dough into the plate, work it with your fingertips into a 10cm-12cm disc and put on a large tray. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Pour enough oil into a large frying pan (one big enough to hold two baras) so it’s about ¾cm deep, then put on a medium heat. Once the oil is hot, drop in a very small pinch of dough– if it bubbles up immediately, the oil is hot enough. Cook the first two breads on one side for 35-45 seconds, then turn with a spatula and repeat on the other side, until golden. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper, to drain, and repeat with the remaining baras.
To serve, put a bara on each plate. Ladle a quarter of the chickpea mix on top of each one, spoon over some chutney and top with a second bara. Serve with more hot sauce, if you like, if you like.
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