You can taste 'saucy' Trinidadian doubles at this Brampton spot

I was recently asked on social media to share my favourite place for doubles in the GTA. Few things, we're talking foodstuffs, get me riled up like my love for the iconic Trinidadian street food. I am not Trinidadian, but I hold the saucy sandwich made of fried bread and curried chickpeas close to my heart.

I believe Radica's Hot and Spicy has some of the best doubles in town. A thick, saucy chickpea mixture laced with chutneys and hot sauce, sandwiched between two pieces of fried bread, has fed an entire generation of immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area.

"A family tradition through and through. We make the doubles the same way we made when my mom opened this place in 96," Shiva Nandlal said.

Suresh Doss: Radica's Hot and Spicy

5 years ago

Duration 1:03

Radicas Hot and Spicy in Brampton is known for its Trinidadian doubles.

The 38-year-old is part-owner,full-time cook and head maestro at the Brampton restaurant. Every morning he cooks a large vat of chickpeas in boiling water, watching it with an almost meditative stance for an hour as the chickpeas slowly break down in the hot liquid.

The boiling "breaks down the chick pea but still leaves a little chew,"a crucial step in what Nandlalconsiders the right "texture" for his doubles. Radica yells across the room, "texture is key but also the chutneys!" as she's babying a pot of potato curry.

"My mother was known for cooking back home, but never a professional cook. She fed many families, almost daily," Nandlal explained.Radica and her family settled in Brampton in the 1980s and opened the Trinidadian restaurant in the 1990s.

The family poured their savings into a modest operation, originally on TorbramRoad in Brampton, serving up classic Trinidadian dishes.An assortment of curries, roti and doubles. The doubles were an instant hit.

"I never made doubles in Trinidad. For us it was a pursuit of this taste of home. We tried to bring our recipe as close to the real thing as possible." she explained.

Doubles used to be strictly a breakfast dish, but through their travels throughout the years they've seen how prevalent the dish has becomeat alltimes of the day.

Once the vat of chickpeas bubbles, a green liquid is added to it. It'sthe secret house mixture that gives the dish flavour. The mother-and-son team takes turns stirring the pot, watching for the right consistency. A few minutes later the filling isdone.

"I'll only tell you a few things:it has cumin, a curry mixture, garlic, and shado beni." Shiva said.

Shado beni, also known as culantro, gives the liquid a bright green colour and a thick texture.The bara is then prepared.

"There's nothing special about this bread recipe. It's just flour, some cumin, turmeric.It's simple."

Dough is rolled out to the size of aperson's palm and then flash fried in oil for a few of seconds. The consistency you should expect is pillowy soft with a slight chew. Good bara should be slightly stretchy, tearing easily.

In my opinion, well made doubles should taste like a roller coaster ride of sweet, salty, sour and spice, tamed by pillowy soft bread.Shiva and Radica have four sauces that they use to dress each order of doubles.

There's a sweet tamarind sauce, a thick mango sauce, shado beni sauce, and the house hot sauce made with scotch bonnet peppers. The doubles are then finished with thinly julienne cut cucumbers, whichcooldown the heat and any harsh spicing.

My suggestion if it's your first time, order doubles with everything, slight pepper. All the crucial sweet, sour and pepper notes with just a slight hint of pepper.

If you're feeling brave, my favourite way to order doubles is to everything, extra tamarind, hot.

"There's definitely a way to eat it! If you're eating with a Trini person you better know how to," Shiva explained.

Open your order, pick up the top piece of bara, use it to mix and scoop up the channa and sauces and chutney. Repeat, reserving some filling for the bottom piece.

It may be one of Trinidad's national foods, but its worth considering how much doubles has permeated the GTA culinary scene in recent decades.