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Mar 14 12 tweets 4 min read
How the Indian curry and flatbread found their way into Trinidadian comfort food. A short thread on this delicious journey. 1/n #travellingsOftheIndianCurry
On a regular hot and humid day on the streets of Port of Spain, it is not unusual to find the sight of people eating Trinidadian wraps in restaurants and cafes. 2/n
The wrap, which is a combination of flatbread, and the traditional Trinidadian curry, is a unique mix of culture and heritage, and for the people of the Caribbean islands, it is comfort food. 3/n
But did you know a chunk of the flavor, ingredients and the method of cooking the wrap comes from the Indian subcontinent.? 4/n
The story goes that after slavery was abolished in the 1830s, to compensate for the loss of the workers, empires started bringing in indentured servants mainly from the subcontinent. 5/n
Post 1845, there was a huge influx of Indian migrants who came to work on the sugarcane fields in the islands. With them came their distinctive cooking style and food items, the most famous being the tawa-made Indian flat bread, also known as roti. 6/n
Over the years the roti became quite a star in the Trinidadian kitchen and saw several iterations of its Indian version. The most popular of them are the Dhal puri and paratha. 7/n
The Trinidadian version of the paratha is known as the ‘bussup shut’, which in Trini sounds like “busted-up shirt,”. Unlike the traditional Indian paratha, this is broken into pieces, which is then used to scoop up the curry. 8/n
Making the Dhal puri, on the other hand, requires patience and know-how. It is cooked on a griddle, stuffed with ground split peas, and then wrapped around a curry. The wrap roti became quite popular in the 1940s for its convenience and is still being used. 9/n
The Trinidadian curry is a milder offshoot of the Indian curry, since the islands had access to fewer spices during its inception. Though mild in heat, it is superior in taste and aroma. 10/n
Today, in Trinidad, one can find many restaurants being run by descendants of Indian migrants, offering the Trinidadian versions of the Indian curry and roti. If you ever find yourself in Port of Spain or San Fernando, make sure you grab a bite of the Trinidadian wrap roti. 11/n

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