Doubles (food)

Doubles is a common

Doubles as a dish was created in Princes Town by Emamool "Mamoodeen" Deen and his wife Raheman Rasulan Deen in 1936.^[1] Deen used to sell curried chickpeas over single fried flatbread with chutneys. When his customers began requesting to double the bara in their orders the name “doubles” was coined.^[2]

It has been speculated that it was inspired by a northern Indian dish called chole bhature (or sometimes channa bhatura).^[3] Chole bhature is made by combining channa masala and bhature (poori), which is a fried bread made with maida flour, a common flour in Indian baking.

As a base for the curry, onions, garlic and curry powder or plain turmeric powder are fried briefly.

Given the diversity of Trinidad, doubles is credited with its ability to "define and maintain symbolic boundaries of identification", and is considered an authentic standard of Trinidadian cuisine.[5] Doubles is a comfort food for displaced Trinidadians in major cities across the globe.^[5] Its consumption has been credited with developing a "deep psychological imprinting" among them, and as such is considered culturally significant for how it encapsulated Trinidadian identity into a simple and unique snack.^[5]

Trinidadian-Canadian filmmaker Ian Harnarine has released two films, the 2011 short film Doubles with Slight Pepper^[6] and the 2023 feature expansion Doubles,^[7] which centre in part on the significance of doubles as a signifier of Trinidadian culture among Trinidadian expatriates.^[8]

• Cuisine of Trinidad and Tobago