International Doubles Day 2021: Celebrate with recipe video

“In London, the day is being celebrated… for every doubles and rum punch purchased, £1 will be donated to COV-AID TnT to raise money for the COVID situation in Trinidad.” Sham Mahabir spearheads the campaign and shares his recipe to mark the third International Doubles Day on May 30, 2021.

Trinidad’s most loved dish, doubles, is celebrated on International Doubles Day, Sunday, May 30, 2021. Set to coincide with Trinidad & Tobago’s Indian Arrival Day which marks the arrival of the first Indian workers, a team in London aims to spread the word about the love of doubles around the world.

Fundraiser for COVID situation in T&T

With Trinidad in lockdown, this is another year of being mindful and celebrating at home instead of publicly. Sham Mahabir, who initiated the campaign, has created a video with instructions, as well as provided a recipe. In London, the day is being celebrated with an event at Trinbago bar and restaurant Limin’ Beach Club, where for every doubles and rum punch purchased, £1 will be donated to COV-AID TnT to raise money for the COVID situation in Trinidad.

Sham’s Doubles Recipe

Ingredients (serves 6)

Bara (flatbread)

1 lb self-raising flour

½ tsp turmeric, yeast and salt

½ tbsp sugar

Channa (mild chickpea curry)

2 x 400g chickpeas (tinned or dried)

1 tsp curry powder (optional)

2 tsp turmeric

½ cup chopped onions, spring onions and coriander

1 tbsp chopped garlic

1 Scotch bonnet (if desired)

30 ml oil

Salt to taste

Method

Bara

Combine all ingredients then add water until dough is soft. Knead and drizzle some oil on top. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes then make into small balls. Flatten on an oiled surface and fry.

Channa

Heat oil, add all the ingredients, except the chickpeas. Fry for 5 minutes, adding water if necessary. Add the chickpeas, stir and add water to cover the chickpeas. Cook on slow to medium heat until tender. Crush chickpeas to make sauce thicker (if desired).

Trinidad’s most popular street food

For the uninitiated, doubles are made up of warming, slightly spicy and tantalising flat bread sandwiched with a delicious chick pea curry made with turmeric, coriander, cumin and topped with cucumber chutney and pepper sauce. Naturally vegan, doubles can be eaten throughout the day and have become Trinidad’s most popular street food.

Educating Brits on Trinbago food

Sham’s campaign aims to put Trinidad & Tobago on the culinary and cultural map of London and beyond. He arrived from Trinidad to the UK 23 years ago and has been on a mission to educating Brits on Trinbago food ever since.

He is owner of Limin’ Beach Club and Saga Boy Foods. Limin’ Beach Club on London’s Southbank serves authentic Trini dishes. During the pandemic, he launched Saga Boy Foods to deliver Trinbago dishes across Britain while restaurants were closed, with its own separate site launching later this summer.

International Doubles Day is about sharing

Sham says, “International Doubles Day is all about sharing the very best of our food, our culture and our traditions. After two successful years spreading the word, I’m thrilled to be able to serve up national pride with a generous side order of fun for Trinidadians and for anyone curious about our food for the third year running!”

Connect with International Doubles Day campaign

Engage with the campaign on Twitter at Twitter.com/GetSomeDoubles or on Facebook at Facebook.com/GetSomeDoubles, and using #InternationalDoublesDay.