Trini fry bake with tomato choka

• 55 minutes
• Prep 30 minutes
• Cook 25 minutes
• Serves 4

Our own recipe. The photograph is AI-generated.

• Vegan
• Vegetarian
• Dairy free

Ingredients

• 300g plain flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• Half a teaspoon salt, for the dough
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for the dough
• 6 ripe tomatoes (about 600g)
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Half a scotch bonnet chilli, seeds scraped out, very finely chopped
• Half a teaspoon salt, for the choka
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, for the choka
• 10g fresh coriander, chopped
• 500ml vegetable oil, for frying

Let's cook

1. Make the dough. Mix the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the 2 tablespoons of oil and about 180ml warm water, a little at a time, mixing with your hand into a soft, smooth dough. Knead for 2 minutes, cover and rest for 20 minutes.
2. Make the choka while the dough rests. Char the tomatoes: hold each on a fork over a gas flame, turning, or put them under a very hot grill for 10 to 12 minutes, turning, until the skins are blackened and split all over and the tomatoes are soft.
3. Leave the tomatoes to cool for a few minutes, then peel off the burnt skins. Mash the flesh in a bowl with a fork. Stir in the onion, the scotch bonnet and the salt. Wash your hands after touching the chilli.
4. Heat the 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan until very hot. Add the sliced garlic: it will sizzle at once. Cook for 20 to 30 seconds until pale golden, then pour the hot oil and garlic straight over the tomatoes. This is called a chunkay in Trinidad. Stir and scatter over the coriander.
5. Shape the bakes. Divide the dough into 8 balls. On a floured worktop, roll each into a circle about 12cm across and 5mm thick.
6. Pour the frying oil into a wide, deep pan so it is about 2cm deep and heat it on a medium heat to 170C; a scrap of dough should sizzle and rise at once.
7. Fry 2 bakes at a time for about 1 minute on each side, spooning hot oil over the top so they puff up, until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.
8. Serve the bakes warm, split open and filled with spoonfuls of choka.

Tips

• Do not roll the dough too thin, or the bakes will be crisp instead of puffy.
• Char the tomatoes properly: the smoky taste is the whole point of choka.
• Let the frying oil cool fully in the pan before you move it.

Swaps

• Traditional: rub 30g butter into the flour instead of the oil (this adds milk).
• Milder: leave out the scotch bonnet and add a little black pepper.
• Other chokas: char an aubergine the same way for baigan choka.

Tags

• bake
• choka
• trinidad
• brunch

In Plant powered, Weekend brunch and bakes.

Contains: Cereals containing gluten .

Contains gluten from the plain flour. Baking powder is usually gluten free, but check the packet. The butter swap would add milk.

Check every packet for allergens.